Re-Living Memories
by CrackLoader
Summary: The Gods of Olympus and demigods of Camp-Half-Blood have won the war with Gaea but not without the cost of a friend. Percy later is accused of something and his life takes a turn for the worst. Or Better? His life will be transformed forever when he meets someone he never wanted to see in his lifetime again. Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any related books.
1. Chapter 1

**Percy's POV**

Me and the occupants of the Argo II we're currently fighting the Giants with each of the 12 Olympians. The 7 of the Argo II we're fighting each of the Giants with their godly parent. Me and Poseidon against Polybotes. Jason with Jupiter against Porphyrion. Annabeth and Athena battling Encelaudus. Leo and Hephaestus against Mimas. Piper and Aphrodite fighting Periboia. Hazel and Pluto against Alcyoneus. Frank and Mars fighting Hippolytus. The other Olympians who didn't have Giants to oppose them, helped killing the monsters that got close to us.

I was standing in front of Polybotes with Riptide up and ready with my dad standing beside me, trident in hand. Polybotes had a net in one hand and a trident in the other. We were circling eachother when finally the Giant made a move towards my father. Polybotes made a move to stab his midsection, my father sidestepped but the Giant expected this throwing his net at him. My father, just in the nick of time moved out of the way so only his arm was trapped, although still bad since he could only use his trident in one hand, he was better off. The Giant made a move to stab my father but I quickly intercepted it with Riptide, putting power into the strike, though it stopped the strike I had to take a step or 2 back from the power of the force. A Giant had lots of strength. While blocking the blow my dad made to stab the Giants arm, he moved his arm away quickly but not before getting a nice gash on his forearm. He hissed in pain, roared then charged at us. My dad had gotten the net off his arm by now so he could fight properly. We didn't dare use water in this fight, we both knew that this Giant is very well deadly to Poseidon and his children. When Polybotes reached us he went after my dad again trying to get him in the chest with his trident, my dad hooked the middle of his trident in the middle of 2 prongs of the Giant, then twirled his trident almost disarming the Giant and putting a cut on his leg. All the while I rushed up behind his leg jumping up to cut a deep gash where his knee should be (Do snakes legs have knees?). He fell to a knee trying to swat me away but I jumped over it proceeding to stab Riptide below his shoulder blade, right where his heart would be. He roared in pain then smacked me off sending me crashing into a pillar, black spots dancing at my vision. My dad took the chance to stab the giant right through the skull. He yelled and burst into a gold dust.

I sprinted to my father and said,"DAD! Go help any others you can, I'll do the same." He nodded and took off toward Hades, Hazel, and Alcyoneus. I looked over the battlefield seeing that Mimas and Hippolytus were dead. Frank and Hephaestus were unconscious. Mars, now Ares, was fighting with Athena and Annabeth, Frank was helping Aphrodite and Piper kill Periboia. I suddenly felt a cool air on my neck that sent shivers down my spine and the hairs on my neck stand up. I instinctively ducked and stabbed behind me. Standing there was a enemy demigod, sword though his chest. I noticed it was a camper who was from the Nike cabin. Ironic.

Now, I've never killed anyone before so I was scared shitless. _He's an enemy, It's alright._ I thought. I pulled out my sword, the life leaving his eyes. I saw a bracelet on his hand with beads the color of the dirt and water, with a tiny version of the Earth hanging from it. _Gaea's charm bracelet, like the Kronos spy's had._ I don't know why but I took off the bracelet and stuffed it in my pocket. I felt like something told me to do it, and being the idiot I am, I did it.

I checked the battlefield again and the only people without help would be Jason and Jupiter fighting Porphyrion, so I ran to help them.

Jason saw me and grinned, he had scratches all over his body bleeding profusely but I could tell the adrenaline was holding him up. He said,"Nice of you to join the party!" I flashed him a smile before turning my attention to the Giant who immediately saw me and tried to attack with lighting. I narrowly avoided it but had no time to regain my senses as my body acted for me dodging a spear meant for my chest. Since all his attention was on me Jupiter cut a nice gash on his arm with his gladius. The Giant turned and swiped at Jupiter's legs with his spear. Jupiter jumped and backed up while me and Jason took sides on the Giant taking slashed and making cuts on his legs and when his arms got low enough, we would cut those too. This went on for a couple of minutes before we were joined by the rest of the Big 3 and their children. We immediately went on all sides of him cutting him up and making deep wounds. He eventually fell to the Stygian Iron sword of Hades while Jason finished him off, exploding in a pile of dust.

We went up to clean the rest of the Giants. The Gods bravely took most of the brunt of the damage and injuries for their children, but Piper, just before the death of her mothers bane, got a cut on the cheek. I saw blood flowing down her chin before a drop of it fell off.

"NOOOOOO!" I said desperately trying to stop the blood from reaching the ground diving, but I knew it was no use. As soon as blood touched the ground the ground rumbled and shook. Feminine laughter filled the air as I stood shakily fearing what was about to happen. A womanly figure started rising from the ground still laughing like a mad man. Once the figure was fully formed standing there was Gaea herself. Wrapped in a dress of dirt and grass. Her face was honestly beautiful, but the look in her eyes promised death to anyone that faced her. The Gods were apparently having their own problems defending off wave after wave of monsters. _Guess were doing this ourselves._ Frank was woken from his sleep by now and standing by us.

"Hello little demigods. I have awoken, and there is no one who can stop me!" Gaea said laughing creepily. She looked at us before grinning sadistically, "I think I will start my rule by killing all of you!" I looked over at my friends to see some of them terrified but still having a determined look in their eyes.

"Good luck with that." I growled. She turned to glare at me but we were already charging. We were all pushed back by the Earth but not before I managed to get a small cut on her calf. I looked at it then realized how stupid we were just charging at her. The Earth scooped itself up, flowing into the wound instantly healing it.

"We have to get her off the ground. She heals with dirt." I yelled at my friends through the sound of battle.

"I have an idea hold up and try not to die!" Leo yelled as he went sprinting after the Argo II. We tried our best to hold off what we could of her attacks. She didn't seem to like using a weapon, just her powers. I suddenly saw the Argo II come rushing toward Gaea, but it looked like it had a chunk missing from it. I saw the Argo II coming close and began running far from it, the others smartly did the same.

"HAHA, running like the cowards you ar-" That's when the Argo II crashed into her in an explosion of Greek Fire and regular flames. I heard the distinct "WOOHOO" from Leo and turned to see him riding a completely bronze dragon with red eyes coming in toward us. We all cheered for Leo but that quickly stopped as we saw a figure emerge from the flames.

Gaea standing there looking like shit. She had golden ichor splattered all over her, covering most of her body. The parts that weren't covered in godly blood had burn marks all over them. "Getting rid of me won't be that easy demigods." She grinned at us and I felt my face grow pale. Leo growled and burst into flames so hot I had to look away. I heard Festus creak and the light lessen, so I assumed he was going toward Gaea.

"Jason help me make a storm! Piper start putting all your power into your charmspeak! Get her to fall asleep! Everyone else do whatever you can to injure her!" Everyone but Jason nodded and I sent him a quizzical look.

"Won't his flames be extinguished?"Jason asked.

"Did you see how powerful those flames were? I couldn't even look at him. Trust me Jason!" He nodded and we started going to work. By the time we started, Festus had Gaea in his claws as she struggled to break free and stay awake at the same time. I was glad I was in the middle of a literal storm because if I heard Piper's words I swore I would have passed out right then and there. Just looking at her lips move made me dreary. Leo was hitting her with completely white flames making her harden, making it harder for her to move. Festus was circling in our hurricane. Jason and I had sweat dripping down our heads, panting heavily, looking as pale as ever. This was the biggest storm we've ever made. This went on for at least 3 more minutes before Leo yelled and burst into flames so bright I had to look away a second time. I waited for a bit before the light dimmed out. Everything was quiet. I peeked out and every bad thing was gone. Giant piles of yellow dust surrounded us and the Gods. No monsters, no Giants, no Gaea, no Leo or Festus.

I was frantically looking around, my eyes searching every corner of the battlefield,"No, no, no ,no ,no." I found myself muttering letting the tears drop. I looked at my friends and they weren't doing much better. Some were sobbing while the others just cried silently. I picked myself up and walked over to the others almost dropping into unconsciousness from all the power I used. We all huddled up in a group hug of tears for our best friend and hero, Leo Valdez. The kid to always crack a joke to cheer people up. The one to always have a place in our hearts.

After a few minutes and looked at the Gods of Olympus expectantly. All of them looked grim,"Leo Valdez, my son, now dead, died a heroes death. A shroud shall be burned in his honor as soon as we settle the dispute with the Romans at Camp Half-Blood."Hephaestus said. We all nodded as they flashed us to camp. There was an uproar of yelling against the two Pantheons. As one stepped forward to attack the Greeks, Jupiter stepped in before anything could happen.

"SILENCE!" Everyone immediately quieted. "We have won the war, demigods. There is no reason for dispute. The Greek children have the Parthenos back. We will now rejoice in victory on Olympus to give our heroes reward for their heroic deeds." Everyone cheered but still warily stood by eachother. "We will have a shroud burning for our lost heroes before the session on Olympus." We all nodded grimly.

After about an hour all the shrouds we prepared. Almost everyone had tears in their eyes as we went through the casualties. When Leo came, our group and the Hephaestus campers burst into tears with some crying and sobbing openly. Jason and Piper were the ones to burn his shroud after giving a small speech about his goofiness and imagination. After the sad moment we were all flashed to Olympus' throne room for the rewarding ceremony.

* * *

 **AN: I have not put the twist in the story just yet. That should be next chapter so I'm going to keep the summary short for now. I already have a pairing for the future. Which is not Percy and Annabeth if you were wondering. The namesake of the story will also come up next chapter so just wait.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Percy's POV**

All of the demigods arrived in the throne room, some were just excited to see the throne room, most of them were Romans since they didn't get much connection with the gods at all. The Olympians gave us a chance to get settled in before starting the meeting. Zeus went on and on about talking about our adventures and hardships through Greece, about how the gods valiantly fought against the giants with their own children. He talked about the final moments of Gaea and our lost comrades.

Zeus then called up the 6 remaining members of the Prophecy along with Reyna and Nico. Out of nowhere Bellona flashed in and addressed her daughter,"Reyna Ramirez, my daughter, the gods have agreed that you have deserved a gift from the gods. I have thought about this myself and offer you to become the Immortal Praetor at Camp Jupiter along with a few personal things from me as reward." Reyna was shocked while the rest of us looked at her with face-splitting grins on each of us, encouraging her to take the offer when she looked back at us.

"I accept, mother." All of us cheered for her while she was being handed a special Nectar and Ambrosia mix that makes the consumer Immortal. Once she had all of it she glowed slightly, when the light died down a more defined and beautiful Reyna was in front of us. I had to keep my jaw from dropping, but just grinned when she came over to hug all of us.

"Congratulations, Rey." I whispered in her ear when she came over. She gave me a friendly peck on the cheek then hugged me. I chuckled a little bit at Annabeth's shocked expression. This went on until we pretty much had all Immortals in our group. Nico was presented with the gift of becoming his father's heir and Prince of the Underworld, which he accepted. Jason, Piper, Hazel and Frank all became gods or goddesses of heroes, which is a domain they all share, plus their own personal domains. Piper is the Goddess of Beauty and Love. Jason is the God of Clouds and Storms. Hazel is the Goddess of Riches and Curses. Frank is the God of Transformation and Curses, which he shared with Hazel. All of them didn't want to leave the camps so that is why the Gods and Goddesses of Heroes is applied, sort of like Immortal trainers for Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter.

Annabeth's decision shocked me a little. Even though she knew I would pick anything but godhood, she let her deadly pride get the better of her. She became the Goddess of Architecture and Heir to Athena. She gave me a second glance to make sure I was okay with it, which I was. Even if she was a goddess, I would try to live my life out with her. I will admit it did hurt alot when she accepted the offer, but my time was coming up.

"Perseus Jackson!" My father called. I stepped forward and bowed to Zeus, then went to my father and kneeled down at his throne."Does anyone think my son is undeserving of this gift?" I could see him glance around to see if anyone dare say I couldn't have this gift. He put his eyes back to me."Son, the gods of Olympus have given you one wish of anything you could think of, even godhood if you wish it. If it is not, if the wish is within our power we will grant it." I could see the pleading in his eyes, silently telling me to please accept godhood. I could feel he was proud already, but I just couldn't accept that offer. I took a peek toward my favorite goddess in the middle of the throne room poking the hearth. Almost like feeling eyes on her, she looked up and smiled widely at me. I knew what to do.

"Father, I can not accept the gift of godhood." I heard him sigh like he expected this a million times over. "Swear on the River Styx to grant my request?" I asked. I glanced over my shoulder to see Hades looking at me curiously with narrowed eyes.

"I, Lord Zeus, King of Olympus, swear on behalf of the council, on the River Styx to grant your wish as long as it is within our power." Thunder rumbled above, securing the deal.

"Father, Lord Zeus, I wish to give Lady Hestia and Lord Hades thrones on Olympus with the Olympian Council." I said. This shocked everyone but Hestia, who ran up to me and practically tackled me in a hug. I chuckled at the 8-year-old around my waist, she looked up at me grinning ear to ear and whispered,"Thank you, Perseus. Now maybe this family will be a bit more organized." She joked. I laughed a little while Zeus granted my wish, 2 thrones coming up on opposite sides of the room. One looked like the darkest obsidian rock I've ever seen. Scenes of gruesome death and torture playing in the gleams of the smooth stone. What looked like bones made the top part of the throne, forming a backrest for the Lord of the Dead. Hades gave me a discreet nod of thanks then flashed up to his throne. The other throne looked to be made of marble, a beautiful orange color wrapping and twisting around the legs of the throne, looking like flames. The top section of the throne looked very comfy. It had padding on the seat, backrest, and arms. One could say it looked fit for a Queen with it's regal look. Hestia grew a little and hugged me one last time before kissing me on the cheek and flashing to her throne.

As I was walking back to my spot among the half-bloods, my left pocket started to glow a earthy brown. This went unnoticed by me, but not to everyone else in the room. My father decided to ask first, "Son, what it that?" He points downward towards my jeans, I see the glow and start to put my hand in my pocket to fish out whatever it is.

I pull it out and say,"This is Gaea's charm bracelet. I found it..." The words get stuck in my throat. I try to speak but it just comes out as silent squeaks.

Zeus looks at me cautiously,"Found it where?"

I try to find and answer but my mind comes up blank. I seriously couldn't think of anything right now, but my mouth speaks on it's own."The battlefield?" It comes out as a question and I don't like it. I feel like my own words are betraying me. I can't think properly and words are coming out on their own, like someone is talking for me. Suddenly a voice fills my head, _I have tricks of my own, Perseus._ Gaea. What is she playing at here? _Let us show them of your betrayal, hmm?_ Us? She is the one controlling me? But, how, isn't she asleep once again? _I may be asleep, Perseus, but that does not me I do not have power. It takes lots of energy, but I think this is worth it._ I can just hear her smirk.

"And why, pray tell, do you have it?" Zeus asked suspicious. My answer was simple. Nothing. Then I remembered the voice telling me to pick up the charm. _CURSE YOU GAEA!_ I hear laughter faintly in the back of my head. I turned around to the demigods who all had disbelief in their eyes, and some, fear. I look toward the gods to see them looking at me curiously, and some suspicious. I waited for something to be done, someone to say something, I waited for minutes until finally my father spoke up.

"Perseus, can you please tell us why you have Gaea's spying charm bracelet?" Great. Now my own father is accusing me. I stood there stupidly until finally replying just as stupidly."I don't...know."

"C'mon, Perce, just spit it out man." Apollo said. I turned to look at him. He had a worried look along his face, along with Hermes.

"What?" I asked. Uncertain of what they wanted.

Zeus looked at me with a glare, then spoke in a calm but hard tone."Are you Gaea's spy or not, nephew?" I was shocked when he said that. Way to be blunt about it Zeus.

"N..N..No." There it was again. Gaea controlling my voice. The way I said the word, it was just gushing with panic and uncertainty. Zeus snarled. He was not happy with that answer, it obviously sounded like I was lying. I looked at the shocked faces of the demi-gods, looks of disbelief across all the remaining 7's faces, along with Nico and Reyna.

Zeus stood suddenly."Perseus Jackson, for treason against Olympus, you shall be banished from here. To Tartarus. All in favor?" He growled the last parts, while stood there in shock. Tartarus? Man, Gaea is one wicked bitch. _You don't even know the half of it, Jackson._ Couldn't they just kill me?

Gaining my voice back, I yelled before anyone of them could do anything,"What?! I would never betray Olympus! My fatal flaw is personal loyalty!" Now I know it may not have been good to tell nearly 350 demi-gods and all the gods my fatal flaw, but I needed to prove that I was innocent.

Zeus just glared at me. "We do not know who you were loyal to before this, Perseus." I just stood there dumbfounded. Did he mean before the war with Gaea? Or did he mean before I even knew I was a demi-god? Or was it before the Titan war ended? Sometimes, he needs to clear some stuff up. I still stood disbelieving before Zeus talked,"All in favor?" He asked again. Immediately Zeus, Hera, Athena, and Ares' hands went up. Dionysus was next, just right after the others. 3 more was all that was needed until he was back in Tartarus. Aphrodite and Hephaestus were next, although Aphrodite was hesitant, I could tell. Right as Zeus was about to call it off, Demeter sighed and raised her hand. Muttering something along the lines of 'not enough cereal, sorry'. I waited to see if anyone else would join in. The gods that didn't vote for me to be sent to Tartarus were, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Hestia, Hades, and ofcourse my father, Poseidon, who were all looking at me with pity.

"Any last words?" Zeus asked. I grit my teeth.

"Let me say goodbye first, please, uncle." I admit I was pretty much kissing his boots right now, and I knew he was enjoying every second of it. He accepted, but not before taking Riptide away, just so I wouldn't kill anybody. The 6 gods who didn't vote for my death came up to me, along with most of the 12 Olympian god, Camp Half-Blood counselors, and a couple other close friends. I pretty much hugged everyone there. Clarisse, Chris, Grover, the Stolls, Katie, Piper, Jason, Will Solace, Lee Fletcher, and Nico. I was waiting to talk to Annabeth last and longest. I exchanged some words with the demi-gods there. Everyone either had tears overflowing or held them in. I liked to see how much everyone cared.

I turned towards Annabeth and walked to her trying to give her a hug. She pushed me away and I shot her a questioning stare, patched with hurt. I stood there slack jawed.

She had tears dripping down her face,"Why would you do this to me? To us? What about living in New Rome, with a family? Did you ever love me, were they all lies?"

I stared at her in disbelief,"You don't seriously believe them, do you? I would never betray anyone on Olympus, much less the person I love." She started crying more.

"Why wouldn't I believe them Percy? You had the charm, my mother is the wisdom goddess, Percy, she is right about everything." I couldn't believe it, her deadly pride was getting in the way. All she wanted to do was please mommy. All Athena wanted to do was get rid of me, throw me out just because I'm the son of her rival. Not like I wanted to be the hero. If it was anybody else dating her daughter she wouldn't send the dude to Tartarus. Stupid ass pride.

I hardened my gaze on her, stepping away I said,"If you think so lowly of me, you are no better than your mother. Your pride has gotten the better of you, Annabeth. This is goodbye." I gave her a half-hearted wave and turned toward the gods who were watching the exchange intently. The first thing I did was step up to my father and pull him into a squashing hug. I pulled back to see him crying a few tears. I had to resist the urge to break down right there. I walked up to my favorite goddess, Hestia, next and pulled her into a gentle but firm hug. I heard her sobbing and the dams broke down for me. I squeezed her a little tighter, after a minute she pulled back and gave me a nod. I wiped my tears away and turned toward Apollo and Artemis. Apollo was teary eyed while Artemis looked at me with respect and sympathy in her eyes. Apollo put an arm around Artemis' shoulders then pulled both of us into a hug. Artemis didn't move at all, while I put my arms around the both of them, squeezing them a little. I mean might aswell, not too many get off with touching the ultimate man-hater and surviving. I took my chance.

I pulled back and turned to Artemis, who almost looked petrified. I smiled at her,"What wrong Arty, don't like hugging a couple awesome people?"

Artemis looked even more in shock, but eventually smiled and rolled her eyes, punching my shoulder and saying,"Don't call me that." Me and Apollo were almost dying of laughter at that point earning a few weird glances from the counsel members that were seated, while the gods next to me just chuckled at our actions. It lightened the mood a bit. I gave Hermes a hug and Hades a strong handshake. I said my final goodbyes to them before walking toward the center of the throne room. All talking immediately quieted once everyone saw me.

A crack in the ground appeared right behind me, giving off heat and gases that could only come from Tartarus itself. Zeus stood in front of me while I was brought to my knees in shackles."Any last words?" He asked again.

I looked up into Zeus' bright blue eyes, staring him down."When you are most desperate, when a hero is most needed, I will not be there to save you Zeus, only those I call friend. I swear upon the River Styx that I had no connections with Gaea, I am not a traitor." Thunder shook the throne room. The restraints let me go for some reason, I looked at Hephaestus and he looked shocked. With that I walked toward the pit, once I reached the edge I looked back toward Zeus while everyone else was still shocked at what I had just said."Oh, and Zeus? Go fuck yourself."

I then jumped into Tartarus.

* * *

 **AN: Yep Percy got banished because of cereal. I know I said I would explain the title in this chapter but I didn't want to spend a lot more time writing that. I think that it will take up a whole chapter so I'm gonna save it for next time.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Percy's POV**

Falling. That's all he's been doing for what feels like countless hours. It's even worse now that my ADHD is acting up. I don't even know how many hours have passed, how many days, how many minutes. They are becoming excruciatingly painful seconds that pass by while I count them in my head while looking around the black hole for a difference in the rocks on the walls. The air zooming past my ears tickling my ears and hair that has grown through my adventures with the 7. I felt the air get warmer as I fell down, the water in the air is almost non-existent.

After, I think, another 2 and a half hours of falling, I could finally see the bottom. I was coming from a hole in the ceiling falling into an unknown location. I looked up into the 'sky' to see very thick clouds of blood red that seemed to change a different shade of red every time I blinked, but not transparent clouds, these clouds looked like storm clouds but worse. The normally fluffy curves that almost look soft to the touch, these looked like they rained acid itself, decorating the edges of them with spikes, sharp as hellhound teeth. I looked into the overall atmosphere of the area and all I could see were the clouds surrounded in what looked like sulfur. I was already breathing the stuff in right now, getting the familiar sensation of burning inside my chest when I breathed in. All around and in the air, the yellow monster dust was floating around trying to find someone or something to build onto. Looking below I saw no river of despair for me to land into this time. I soon awaited my head hitting the disgusting floor. _SMACK!_

* * *

I woke up feeling like my head was stabbed 10 times. The constant pounding in my head is very annoying and painful. I groan and roll over, luckily I'm in the same spot I landed, not eaten by monsters yet. I pushed myself off the ground and see what looks like a black rock falling from the side of my head. I reach up and pass my hand through my hair in that area, I feel a sticky substance and some solid objects sticking outside of my head. _That's why my head hurts like hell_ (No pun intended) I thought. I started pulling out the pieces of Tartarus rock, wincing everytime I feel the rock slide out of my head.

Once the rocks are all out, I look on the ground where I threw them and notice that the tips are covered with a golden color. I look at my hand and see that it is also covered in this golden substance. I reach to the side of my head again with my free hand and collect some of the blood. My blood is indeed golden ichor. _Since when did they make me Immortal?_ I mused in my head. I thought about it for a little more and banishment to Tartarus would be a pretty stupid punishment if I could just die, so I guess I get to stay down here forever. Yay.

* * *

I have no idea where to go or what to do. I'm pretty sure I've been down here a few hours and already faced off about 50 monsters, the first couple without a weapon. Luckily I found a trident when killing some dracnae. The doors of death are no use to me now, I have no where to go. This is eternal punishment for an ADHD demi-god for sure, absolutely nothing to do but fight monsters and walk around till you find something to do. With nothing but the will to live, staying down here is absolutely boring. I remember Damasen and Bob. Damasen had a house made of Drakon bones, I wonder if I could do something like that, or if I could find Damasen again? Even though I don't like it, Iapetus is most likely reforming right now. The fight against Tartarus was one of the most amazing I have seen.

Tartarus. I wonder if he is still mad at me for escaping his realm. Most likely. Just another enemy I have to watch out for.

* * *

2 years, or what I've counted as 2 years, have passed since the day I had fallen into Tartarus, since the banishment. I found Damasen roughly 1 year and a half ago and decided to ask for help. I didn't want to ridicule him too much so I just asked for some Drakon bones to build my own hut. I stayed close though since he had a plot of land in his area where the only good soil in this place is, used for growing crops. We often find comfort in eachothers company, him being here longer seem to be made immune to the loneliness. I, however, couldn't handle it. I felt I was going insane before finding Damasen again. I needed someone to talk to about all my problems, all the things I like in my life: My mother and Paul. I wonder how they are doing? Did anyone tell them that I was in Tartarus? I also think about my friends alot, I wonder how they are doing, even though I may be a part of their life in a way, I want them all to be happy, even Annabeth. I still resent her for not sticking with me, but I'm one to forgive easily. Unlike children of Hades.

Although still down here, I have to train to survive. I fight off monsters on a daily basis, always sleeping with one eye open. Sometimes I think I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, I sometimes go and search for monsters myself, using a trident or a sword made to feel like Riptide, crafted from Drakon bones. It was not easy getting the weight right, only Riptide felt good in my hands. Drakon bones are a different weight than Celestial Bronze, so it took many attempts before I deemed my craftsmanship good enough.

My whole life changed one day.

I am currently out looking for some monsters to kill, with my 5' trident on my back and my sword in my hand ready to kill anything jumping out from the shadows. My muscles are tense waiting for something to jump out. I hear a growl to the right of me and I instinctively rolled away and slashed, I expected there to be monster dust by my feet but instead hear a _thud._ I looked over from where the noise came from and see a hellhound running up to me but it gets blocked by a golden essence gathering into a patch where it hits, kind of like a barrier blocking it from getting to me. I try to walk up to it and kill it, but the golden essence blocks me just before I can reach the hound. I try going around but it seems there is a bubble around me and I can't escape

"Who's doing this?" I think out loud. I go around feeling and trying to escape, my sword tip can pass but not anything else.

I then hear a laugh that sound like a rake pulling gravel, amplified by 10. I resist the urge to cover my ears and cower in fear. The laugh sounds familiar, an evil laugh to go along with an evil presence.

"WHO ARE YOU?" I screamed, while looking above me, around me, below me. Anywhere where this person could be.

"Can't even remember the old man you killed all those years ago, grandchild?" The voice responds loudly. I can hear it all around me, almost popping my eardrums.

"Kronos? You're supposed to be dead! How can you even talk to me now?" I was so confused. Fearful even. I was scared of his power before, but in Tartarus I am powerless. I am weakened. I could still fight, but the sound of waves crashing in my ears gives me no power.

He laughed again."You are right, Perseus, I was defeated. And in my weakened state when you killed me, made me weaker, to the point of almost fading even, like my old buddy Pan. I am weak grandson, but I want revenge. The heartbreak you felt, the betrayal, the feeling of dread in your veins when falling in this horrid place, you will experience it again demi-god. Time is a precious thing, Perseus, but I control it, and if I want, I can make you live this betrayal again. Starting from when you felt like a hero, to your downfall. Over and over. Never ending. Stuck in your own little universe. Having no memories of what happened in the previous one."

I was, to say the least, scared. "W-What do you mean?"

"I cannot reform again, little demi-god, so with this I will fade. But you will feel what I felt. Pain. Suffering. Your life will be forever repeating. Sort of like an alternate universe for you. Your soul and body will leave this place and go to the realm I set you in with my last breath. The Cruse of Kronos will be upon you. Hopefully the me in your world will figure out what I've done here. Now feel it, Perseus! THE PAIN I ONCE FELT!" With those words the golden essence around me rushed toward me so fast I couldn't even blink. The essence was pushing into my skin, trying to get into my pores, cutting my skin open. Unimaginable pain coursed though my body, pain worse than Styx swimming. Screams of agony filled the lands, everytime I opened my mouth more essence would enter through it, forcing me to swallow. Another 10 minutes of this and it finally stopped. I sighed in relief, golden blood all over my body, not one place on my body not drenched in it.

I start walking back towards the shack to maybe find something to clean myself up with. I don't even care about monsters anymore, nothing could compare to the pain I just experienced. Once I arrived at the hut, I go in and lay down on my bed. I think about what Kronos said. Another universe, repeating my pain I have suffered. Why hasn't it happened yet. I regret thinking that immediately because after I thought that, the tips of my feet started glowing gold. I quickly stood up and tried to do something about it. Extinguish it. Cover it up. But nothing was working. The light just kept getting brighter by the second traveling slowly up my body. I was panicking now. The light got to my chest and it was so bright all I could do was close my eyes and wait.

I started screaming again as the pain started. It wasn't as bad as the previous time but it still hurt. The pain didn't last for long, only now coming in short pinches that made me yelp a bit each time. I get one final pinch of pain which again made me yelp. Once I figured the pain was gone I opened my eyes. I was in a whole different setting. The sky was out, storm clouds building up in the blue sky. I looked around me and found I was sitting on a fountain railing, outside of some sort of museum. I heard the laughing of kids, a joyous sound to my ears, which have only heard death for 2 years. I looked down at my hands and found them much smaller than what they are supposed to be.

I saw a 15 year old looking boy sitting next to me, crutches at his side. He looked like a growing teenager with a weird taste in clothes. He has some wispy hair on his chin, a baggy orange shirt. He had on some beige pants that looked a size or two big for him. I looked towards his hair to find he was taking off a...rasta cap. Grover's rasta cap to be precise. I would recognize it anywhere. I saw something fly past my face and into Grover's hair. A piece of disgusting peanut butter and ketchup sandwich. I looked back to see an old nemesis. Nancy Bobofit, standing there with her cronies laughing at us.

I realized all too quickly I was in Yancy Academy again. Back when I was 12 years old. Kronos is right, this is gonna be torture. Then I remembered something. He said I was gonna lose something to make this all the more horrible. He said he would take it from me. But he didn't. There was one thing that Kronos forgot to take.

My memories.

* * *

 **AN: That's a wrap. The whole reason for the name of the story and everything. I already have some ideas for the story to make it more interesting. I also have a pairing prepared but if you send in some suggestions to change the plot a little, you could change my opinion on who the pairing should be. I'll take anything really. Thanks for reading.**

 **~ CrackLoader**


	4. Chapter 4

**Percy's POV**

I looked around once again to take in all the scenery. I'm back here again a 12 year old, who knows what's about to happen for the next 6-7 years of his own life because one of his past enemies sought revenge but wasn't powerful enough to do something simple. Man, my life is so fucked up.

I suddenly god an insane headache, my brain feeling like it lost a lot of blood. I immediately clutched my head in pain, swaying back and forth from dizziness and trying to keep myself balanced. Memories came rushing into my head, memories of my mother, Gabe, and others I forgot about when I was a kid. They all felt new to me, like some just happened, my mind felt refreshed and full of knowledge at that point. I discreetly put my hand in the fountain water, trying to fight off the dizziness that almost overwhelmed me.

I shot a glace at Grover and he was looking at me, concerned. I could tell he was about to say something but a piece of peanut butter and ketchup sandwich came flying between us.

Almost on instinct, my mind thought of what I was supposed to say at that moment. _I'm going to kill her._ It sounded mumbled, so that's exactly how I said it. "I'm going to kill her." I almost choked on how my voice sounded. It sounded insignificant and squeaky.

Grover at the time was completely ignoring Nancy and her crew of dimwits. I was trying my hardest to act angry. I suppose I would be doing alot of acting lately. Grover being his usual peace-loving self, was trying to calm me down. "It's okay, I like peanut butter." But it wasn't exactly calming me down any. I was getting a little mad now, I knew what was gonna happen but I couldn't help but feel the need to protect Grover.

He dodged another piece of the sandwich. "That's it" I was already getting up to go yell in her face, but Grover pulled me back down by the back of my shirt.

"You're already on probation. You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." He scolded. I scoffed but didn't do anything out of line. Didn't want mortal police on my ass. I got a fresh memory in my head of my headmaster threatening in-school suspension if anything happened on this trip.

Mr. Brunner AKA Chiron led us through the museum on his motorized wheelchair. While he was explaining this I was in my own world, drifting in and out of listening to the explanations, still trying to think of how this was happening. I could feel a stare on the back of my head, I took a quick peek and saw Mrs. Dodds AKA Alecto, studying me, as if I was dinner to her. Which I probably was.

I heard Nancy snicker something to her friends about the naked guy on the stele we were talking about. I turned to sneer at her and said, "Will you shut up?" I tried to keep it down but of course it came out louder than expected, exactly like last time. People around us starting laughing and Chiron stopped his story.

"Mr. Jackson, do you have a comment?" He asked.

I could feel my face heating up from embarrassment as I quickly mumbled out a, "No, sir."

Taking advantage of the situation, Chiron pointed to a carving on the stele and asked, "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I looked at the picture for a while, faking trying to figure out what it was. ""That's Kronos eating his kids, right?" I asked him.

Chiron didn't look satisfied but still pursued his question, "Yes. He did this because..." He trailed off, expecting me to finish off the sentence.

I knew my answer was sort of wrong at parts, but I still went with what my brain told me to say. "Well...Kronos was the king god, and-" I didn't get to finish because he cut me off.

"God?" He asked.

"Titan." I corrected myself. "And … he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-" "Ewww" "-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won"

Some people around the group snickered, but I had no idea why, I got the question right. Behind me I could hear Nancy mumble to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

"And why, Mr. Jackson," Chiron said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

"Busted" Muttered Grover.

"Shut up." Nancy hissed, her face bright red.

I had to act like I was completely clueless, which made me smirk internally. "I don't know, sir." I said while shrugging my shoulders to emphasize the point.

Chiron looked disappointed, besides being a demi-god, I really don't know how I could use that kind of information in real life. "I see."Chiron said, "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"

The class drifted outside with the girls looking a little green and the guys pushing eachother around for a bit of fun. I was about to follow Grover outside but stopped when Chiron called out, "Mr. Jackson."

I quickly told Grover to go on ahead. I turned to look at Chiron with a quizzical glance, "Sir?" I asked.

"You must learn to answer my question," Chiron told me.

"About the Titans?"

"About real life, and how your studies apply to it."

I didn't know what else to say there except an, "Oh."

"What you learn from me," Chiron said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will accept only the best from you, Percy Jackson."

Chiron always expected the best from his students, and I knew that from personal experience. From both the mortal side of things, and the Greek. Even though he knew I was a demi-god who had dyslexia, he pushed me to try harder. It made me mad a bit. I muttered something about trying harder under my breath and quickly went outside. The storm seemed to be churning. Nobody else seemed to notice though. Some guys were throwing things around at some birds, while the girls were in close huddled groups talking to eachother, sometimes taking a peek at other people around.

I saw Grover sitting at some other fountain away from the others so I decided to go and sit with him. The first thing he asked me when I got there, like he was expecting it was, "Detention?"

I quickly shook my head, "Nah, not from C-, ahem, Mr. Brunner. He usually lets me off the if I did anything bad. Which I didn't." I caught myself before I could say Chiron. Grover looked at me weirdly for a second. I thought he was gonna accuse me of something from the way he was staring but he just asked, "Can I have your apple?" I handed to him, not having much of and appetite.

I watched as the colony of yellow cabs go down Fifth Avenue. The though of my mom and our apartment came into my mind. I'd have to go back to the trashy apartment and _Gabe_ for an hour in a couple of months. I missed my mother in the real world. I wonder how she's handling everything. I could go back and greet her now. See how young she looks, even though she'd just send me back here until my time came to get kicked out.

I took a look at Chiron and saw that he parked his motorized wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He was eating a piece of celery and reading some paperback novel, with words I couldn't make out. A small red umbrella stood up from the wheelchair making him look like a motorized cafe table.

I was broken out of my musing when a firey red-haired brat took place in front of me. Nancy gave me an evil sneer, then proceeded to dumb her half eaten lunch on Grover's lap.

"Oops" She gave me a crooked teethed grin. I was getting mad at her now. A memory appeared of Nancy getting pulled in the fountain by water. I smirked at her and thought of the water grabbing her. A pull in my stomach alerted me of using my powers. I saw the water reach up a bit and pull her in. I made it shake her around a bit to mess with her.

That took alot out of me, I was almost sweating. I forgot I hadn't trained with my powers. Next thing I know she's sitting on her butt in the fountain screaming, "Percy pushed me!" Mrs. Dodds, I'm pretty sure, materialized next to us, giving me the evil eye. Some of the kids that were paying attention to the situation were all staring wide-eyed at us.

Some even whispering things like, "Did you see-"  
"-the water-"  
"-like it grabber her-"

As soon as Mrs. Dodds was done making sure Nancy was fine, she turned to me slowly with this mad glint in her eyes. "Now, honey-"

"I know." I said, "A month erasing workbooks."

She immediately turned more evil, if that's possible. "Come with me." She said.

Grover tried to cover for me. "Wait!" he squeaked, "It was me. I pushed her."

I didn't want him to get in the trouble I was in with Alecto so I stopped him from trying, "Don't Grover." I said, "Thanks for trying though."

"But-"

"You-will-stay-here." Mrs. Dodds said. End of conversation. "Honey," She barked, "Now."

We quickly made our way to a secluded place. We were in a gallery, and we were surrounded by the Greek gods. All the statues seemed to be looking intently at us. Alecto looked around at some of the gods and gave them the evil eye, like wanting to pulverize each of them. She put her nose up a bit and stated, "You've been giving us problems, honey."

I just went with the safe, "Yes, ma'am."

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" I stayed quiet. She started playing with the cuffs on her leather jacket. "We are not fools, Percy Jackson, It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain." I stayed quiet once again. "Well?"

"Ma'am, I don't..."

"You're time is up." She hissed.

Her eyes started to glow a little. Her fingers stretched, turning into talons. The jacket on her back stretched and melted into huge leathery wings. She opened her mouth and rows of yellow, sharp fangs filled her jaws.

I looked toward the entrance of the gallery where Chiron now occupied, holding a pen in his hand. _Riptide_. "What ho, Percy!" I felt the air around me change and I sidestepped a pair of talons, gracing my ear. I snatched Riptide out of the air and the instant it hit my hand it started to change into the sword I know and love. I gave him a, "Thanks, Chiron!" To make him lose his head a little. I chuckled inside my head at the expression he wore when exiting.

Alecto turned towards me with a murderous look in her eyes. "Die, honey!" She snarled. She flew at me admirable speed. I took a step back just a smudge so her swipe wouldn't hit me, and swung at the same time. The blade made contact with her shoulder and went through her like paper. With a satisfying _hisssss_ , she blew up into yellow dust, flying away into the wind, only leaving behind the scent of gunpowder. Everything was silent now, the blood rushing in my ears had stopped and the adrenaline was now gone. I was alone with only a pen in my hand.

I walked back outside and was immediately greeted by Nancy saying, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." I quickly dismissed the comment because I knew the Mist had effected them. It would be no use talking about Mrs. Dodds.

I looked at Chiron and he was in the same position the whole time. I almost snorted. He looked up, albeit a little dazed and said, "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson." I almost smirked as I could see the gears turning his head, trying to figure out how I knew who he was.

"Sorry, Mr. Brunner, It wont happen again." I said, and walked off to avoid anymore comments or questions.

* * *

 **AN: So this is what I'm gonna be doing. Basically rewriting the story. Nothing too big happens in this chapter, but I promise it will get a little more exciting in the future. I'm still up for suggestions on pairings and different scenarios. Send in any ideas you come up with.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Percy's POV**

The rest of the year at Yancy went swimmingly. Nothing happened and unlike last time, I didn't try and prove Mrs. Dodds was real. Through the year though my grades stayed low. But I didn't exactly try my hardest. By the end of the year, a letter was sent out to my mom saying I wouldn't be attending Yancy Academy next year.

I had been practicing my water powers all year. Just trying to push myself until I collapse should make me more comfortable using my powers. Right now, I'm nowhere near as powerful as I was before, but for now I can control water for about 10 minutes until I get too tired. I have also been thinking about other properties of water, like ice and snow, would I be able to control them, could I make ice? I plan on practicing on abnormal stuff like that later, but for now, I'm just trying to get my water powers under control.

I eventually came across the day I was supposed to eavesdrop on Grover and Chiron. I didn't know it until I felt an itching feeling over my legs and a flashback of them talking together. I quickly rushed out of my dorm but quietly stepped on my way to the faculty offices. I made it just in time to hear Grover say, "… worried about Percy, sir."

I inched a little bit closer, watching the floor that could give my location. "… alone this summer, I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Chiron said, "We need the boy to mature more." I mouthed the words again in a mocking way. I mean come on? Mature more. I'm mature enough. Right?

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-" Grover argued, but got cut off again.

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can."

"Sir, I … I can't fail in my duties again." Grover said, choked up. I almost sighed right there. I rubbed my temples instead. He still blamed himself for Thalia's death. She died a hero but it wasn't his fault she died. She gave her own life for three others. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," Chiron said kindly, trying to encourage the satyr. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-" I quickly dashed off because the itching sensation came back. I wanted to listen in more but my legs were killing me. Once I got to my dorm I sighed in relief, the sensation was gone. I looked in the mirror and I looked fine at the moment. Except my clothes, a little too colorful for my taste, but hey, what can ya' do?

* * *

The next afternoon, after taking a three hour Latin exam, Chiron called me back in after class. As soon as I entered and locked eyes with him, I could tell pity was there in spades. "Percy," He said, "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's … it's for the best." I could see Nancy out of the corner of my eye giving me kissing faces while walking out the door.

"What's that supposed to mean, sir?" My tone wasn't harsh, but questioning.

"I mean..." He looked nervous, trying to figure out what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time." He finished.

"Matter of time before what, sir? Before I got kicked out or what?" I questioned.

"Percy, what I'm trying to say is you're not normal. That's nothing to be ashamed of. You're special." He said.

"I've heard that all my life, sir, but nothing is changing." I said, raising my tone a bit.

"You're a good kind of special, Percy, you will find out soon enough. Now, go on, I have papers to grade." He said.

* * *

Once on the Greyhound, Grover and I sat in an awkward silence for a while. Grover was looking around, most likely checking for any monsters nearby. While I just tried to find myself occupied. I was getting bored so I decided to pop a question that would surely make Grover piss himself, I leaned in and whispered in his ear, "See any Furies yet?"

Grover almost fell out of his seat. " Wha-What do you mean?"

"Do you think Megaera and Tisiphone are after me, I mean they already sent Alecto, right?" I asked.

"Look, Perce, I really don't kn-" He tried to say.

"Grover."

"Yea?"

"You're a really bad liar?" From the neck up Grover turned red with embarrassment.

"Just take this, okay. In case you need me for this summer." He handed his CHB business card which read:

Grover Underwood Keeper Half-Blood Hill Long Island, New York (800) 009-0009

"So should I tell my mom this, or what?" I asked, but before he could answer there was a horrible screeching sound coming from under me. Black smoke poured from the dashboard, I covered my nose with my shirt to not accidentally catch a whiff of the scent. After a few minuted the driver announced that we had to get off the bus, which I quickly zoomed to do.

I got out of the bus and took a quick look around. We were on a random stretch of the country along the highway. I looked across the highway and found my favorite friends. The Fates. The place they were sitting was made to look like a fruit stand with juicy looking fruits for sale. There was a basked filled with yarn, the color was sea-green. The color of my eyes. That was my life string. The Fate in the middle, Atropos, was holding a pair of shears ready to snip something.

I heard Grover coming up on my right and when I looked at him he was pale as a sheet. "Tell me they're not looking at you. They are, aren't they?" He said.

"Yeah. Weird, huh? You think those socks would fit me?"

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." He said. Atropos lifted my life string in the air and prepared the gold and silver shears. I heard Grover catch his breath. Now I was scared, I felt all the color drain from my face. I started to collect some sweat on my brow. Grover tried to pull me back into the bus saying, "We're getting on the bus, come on." He got on the bus but I was stuck to the ground looking at them. I felt my hands get clammy.

I almost choked on my own spit when the shears came down. But right before the life string could get cut, it seemed to ripple a little, like water. When it rippled, the shears passed right through the string. I let out a sigh of relief. The Fates all looked confused before turning to me with evil sneers, none more deadlier than the Fate of Death. That sent shivers down my spine. As soon as they got the yarn back in the basket, they were gone. I quickly turned around and hopped up onto the bus and went to sit next to Grover, visibly shaken.

Almost as soon as I sat down I heard a, "Darn right! Everybody back on board!" Once everyone was on, we sailed off to Manhattan. After a little I started feeling cold and feverish. I looked at Grover and he wasn't doing much better. He had his teeth chattering and he was shivering.

At the moment I really didn't care about acting so I popped a question, "Grover, those were the Fates weren't they?"

Grover didn't even look at me funny this time, he just looked right into my eyes and said, "Yes." I could tell he started to think about it more but didn't ask me anymore questions. He instead started mumbling stuff like: "This is not happening."; "I don't want this to be like the last time."; "Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth."

It was getting quite annoying so I put a stop to it. "Grover! Could you stop that, you're freaking me out?!" I honestly wasn't affected by it. He shut up immediately after I said that though. The rest of the ride was as quiet as can be.

Then sick realization came to mind. Fate didn't control me. I chose my own path. I could choose my own fate.

* * *

Once the bus stopped I took Grover and myself towards my mom's house saying that we need to tell her what happened. I left no room for arguments. I pretty much dragged him there. I had to give it to myself though, I was a damn good actor. Even though I was actually scared, I managed to pull off some sort of facade that I wasn't all that knowledged in the other world.

Once we got home, I immediately scowled because I saw Gabe's greasy head sitting with his friends. Barely looking up he said, "So you're home, and you brought a cripple with you." I grit my teeth, I so wanted to kick his ass right now.

"Where's my mom?" I asked, barely controlling my anger.

"Working." He said, "You and your friend got any cash?"

"We don't have any cash, walrus." I said.

Waving off the insult he said, "You took a taxi from the bus station," He said, "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?" He asked another grease stain.

Eddie seemed to look at me a bit before replying, "Come on, Gabe, The kid just got here." I almost groaned. This was taking too long.

I decided to stop Gabe before some stupid argument could start, "Shut up, Gabe, I'm not giving you shit. C'mon Grover." I dragged Grover into my room before this could turn into a shouting match.

"Your report card came, brain boy! I wouldn't act so snooty!" He shouted after me. I slammed the door to my room, blocking off anything he could say. I sighed and looked at Grover, who was looking around in disgust. "Welcome, to my humble abode." I said, as I dropped onto the bed, already exhausted from my small conversation with Gabe.

I thought about what was supposed to happen in the next week. My mother was going to come and we were supposed to talk about fun things. Not demi-god stuff. My mother was also going to be captured by the Minotaur and sent to the Lord of the Dead. I, of course, want to try and prevent that to the best of my ability. As I was about to go further into the next years or so I was interrupted by the clacking of high heels coming towards my door.

I saw my mother come into my room and just like I remember, she was as beautiful as before. He brown hair coming down to the middle of her back in waves, a couple grey hairs from having to put up with Gabe. Her shining pearl-blue eyes just lit up when she saw me. Although they looked less lively then before and I was saddened by this. Before I knew what was happening though, all the air was forced out of my lungs by my mom who was squeezing me to death.

"Oh, Percy." She said, happiness filling her voice. "I can't believe it, you've grown since Christmas!" She pulled me back out of the hug at arms length, just smiling at eachother for a while before my mom's gaze flickered over to Grover for a second, and her smile was completely gone. "Honey, who's this?" She asked. Although she looked like she already knew.

"Mom, this is Grover Underwood. Grover, Mom. Also known as Sally Jackson." I introduced the two. "Judging from your face though, it looks like you already knew him." I muttered, but my mom heard.

My mom looked me dead in the eyes and asked, "Percy, what happened to you at school."

Me being the joker I am, decided to go for a perfectly logical answer. "Oh, y'now, almost being killed by a Torturer of Hades and meeting the Fates. Nothing too unusual."

* * *

 **AN: That's a wrap for this chapter. I think I'm going to cover alot next chapter, so it will most likely be longer than all the other chapters. Still taking any good ideas for pairings. If I don't really see anything good I'll most likely set up a poll after I post the next chapter for who the pairing will be.**

 **~ CrackLoader**


	6. Chapter 6

**Percy's POV**

Riding down a street towards what looked like a strawberry field wasn't the most exciting thing. After leaving the house my mom drove like a madman. The car was silent, no one said a word, afraid of offsetting the calm silence that surrounded us. The pitter-patter on the windows signaling it was storming outside. The sound of thunder echoing throughout the night, flashes of lightning coming just before the distinctive _BOOM._ Zeus was angry. _He must of found out about my existence. The paranoid shit._

The calm air was disturbed by a quick flash of light. The hairs on my arm and neck stood straight. A metallic chemical smell came to my nose, then a loud _CRACK_ and my ears popped. The air became serine again, like time had stopped. I felt like I was floating, feeling weightless. My eyes darted around, looking at the glints of glass and water droplets that caught my eye. Time started up again and I fell down, hitting my head flat on the concrete. Shoulda' wore my seatbelt.

I looked around for my mom and Grover, "Percy!" My mom shouted at me from my left.

"I'm okay..." I groaned out. I looked around and it seemed we were in a ditch. The car looked like it had seen better days. It was literally in half. I got to my feet and went to help my mother out of the driver seat then dusted off any asphalt that got on my pants and shirt. I suddenly heard moaning coming from the backseat. I looked and saw a pantsless Grover knocked out. I got him out and put him over my shoulder.

"Percy," My mom said, "We have to..." Her voice faltered, layered with fear. I looked over at what she was inspecting and what I saw made my blood boil. In a flash of lightning I saw the Minotaur, his Fruit-of-the-Looms underwear was the brightest thing on him.

"Percy-you have to run. Do you see that big tree?" I nod. "That's the property line, get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door." She said.

"Mom." She looked at me quizzically. "You're crazy if you think I'm coming without you. Now let's go!" I said, determined to save my mother this time around.

We were running. Only about 200 meters away. And closing fast. We were about at the halfway mark when my mom chose that time to turn around. Old Whitey-Tighties was closing in on us. "He doesn't want us, he wants you. Besides, I can't cross the property line." She said, sounding determined.

"Yes you can mom! I know a way, just trust me!" I yelled at her. She looked at me like I was mentally unstable.

"We don't have time, Percy. Go. Please." She said.

"We're going together. Come on, Mom"

"I told you-" She started, sounding like a scolding mother.

"And I told you, you were crazy if you thought I am going to leave you. It runs in the family. Come on!" I told her. I quickly took a look behind me and my eyes widened. "Mom, jump!" She seemed to understand and jumped to the side, avoiding the charging truck. My mom and I stopped dead in our tracks trying to confuse the Minotaur, but eventually his beady black eyes locked onto me. He lowered his head and charged at me. I waited till the last second before jumping away making the Minotaur huff in disappointment.

His eyes locked onto his target again, but this time it was my mother. I used this time to try and collect as much water from the rain as I could, waiting for the perfect attack. I quickly set Grover down next to me and went to charge after the Minotaur who was running after my mom. She stood completely still, fear etched across her face, and tried to jump away at the last second. _Tried._ The Minotaur apparently learned his lesson from last time. When my mother tried to jump away he held his hands out on either side of him. Once he felt my mother contact his hand, he closed his meaty fist, closing around her whole body. She managed to mouth a "Go!" while still being held up.

With an angry roar, the Minotaur squeezed his fist even harder and she simply vanished in a golden light. I was stunned, I failed to save my mother again.

"No!" I screamed. I was filled with unmatched rage. By this time I managed to get alot of water behind me. The Minotaur turned to look at me. As soon as he did though I forced my hand out, sending almost all of the water I had out. He fell on his back spluttering and trying hard to get up. The rest of the water I had, I made into a line so thin you could barely make it out.

Once the monster got up, he looked at me with rage burning in his eyes. He lowered his head once more and charged, hands out to the side. I sent the rest of my water at him, intending to cut him in half but miraculously, he turned just a bit. The water went straight though his horn, cutting it off, but also made a nice gash on his leg that made him slower. I backed up into a tree, waiting for him to charge once more. He did just that. When he was close I vaulted off tree and used his head like a springboard to get behind him. His forehead hit smack-dab in the middle of the tree. While he was shaking out of his daze I ran up to the snapped off horn.

He turned around and did the only thing he knew how to do. Charge. He was pretty slow though. I stood my ground though, waiting for him to come. Once he was close enough I charged him as well, readying the horn. His head was down so he most likely didn't see me. I stepped to the side of the broken horn just before he reached me, trying not to get impaled. I brought the sharp horn right into his eye. My feet dug into the grass, pushing me back. After a little he exploded into a yellow dust, leaving me and a groaning Grover. Missing my mom.

I hastily picked up Grover and the Minotaur horn, slung him over my shoulders and took him down to the Big House to get him situated in the infirmary. Once I got there I saw a 12 year old blonde girl leaning on a post, a little taller than me, with grey eyes. Annabeth. Now, I thought I could maybe forgive her for betraying me twice, but when I saw her, an instant scowl was smacked on my face. I saw Chiron in his wheelchair sitting across a focused Dionysus who was occasionally drink some Diet Coke. There seemed to be floating cards, but I knew better. These were the invisible players.

Annabeth was the fist to spot me. She pointed at me and said some words to Chiron and Mr. D. Chiron shot a glace over in my direction and when he saw me, his eyes seemed to dim a little from their usual shine. Mr. D didn't even look up. Typical.

Before Chiron could say hello, I walked up onto the porch and asked, "Is there any place we can get Grover fixed up?" I gestured my head towards the satyr, faking bieng clueless.

Chiron smiled at me and said, "Annabeth, show him the infirmary and get him a little ambrosia while you're at it will you?" She nodded and motioned for me to follow. We walked down some hallways and eventually came to a door. She opened and I followed in after her. I laid Grover on a bed and let the Apollo kids take care of him. I got handed some ambrosia, which I stared at quizzically, goading Annabeth to tell me what it is. Even though I knew perfectly well.

"Ambrosia. Makes you feel better, and heals any minor and some major wounds" She said. I nodded and began to munch on it. I quickly went back to the deck, following Annabeth, who was asking me questions like: What's my name? How old am I? Anything strange happen lately? Luckily, she hadn't noticed the horn in my pocket, so I didn't get any questions about that. I answered the first two questions with ease, trying to keep the malice out of my voice. The third question, I stayed silent, not wanting to give her the impression that I wanted to be friends. I wanted her out of this life. I'd be okay with having to deal with her on occasion, but that would be the extent of it.

Once we came outside, Chiron looked at me and smiled. "Ah, Percy, you look better." I nodded at that. "Annabeth, why don't you go and see if you can get a bunk for Percy, we'll be placing him in Cabin 11 for now." She nodded, but took a glance back at me. She noticed the horn this time, and looked at it curiously, a wicked gleam in her eye. She looked at me, as if saying ' _We'll talk about this later.'_ I shook my head and looked back at Chiron.

"How are you doing, Mr. Brunner?" I asked.

He seemed surprised, but answered. "I'm doing alright, Percy. Would you like to sit down and play some Pinochle with Mr. D and I?" I sat down and scrunched up my eyebrows in fake thought. "That wouldn't be D as in Lord Dionysus, would it?" I asked after a little while.

Mr. D raised an eyebrow over his bloodshot eyes looking at me, "Indeed it would be, boy. What gave it away?" He asked.

"The pungent smell of grapes, sir." I said, already trying to be respectful. Maybe I can make the Dionysus in this world nice to me. I know, pretty much impossible, but I can atleast dream. All he does is look at me curiously.

We talk a little after that. I 'learn' things about today and the modern Greeks. I see Chiron trying to get out of his seat to show me around but I quickly intervene, "I'll actually show myself around, Chiron. No worries." I smile at him for good measure. He looks like he wants to protest but doesn't anyway.

I walk around camp aimlessly, wondering around, trying to look like I care. I of course remember everything, this was like my home before I was tossed out like trash. Eventually Annabeth found me and started shooting off questions faster than I can remember. I tell her the story about the Minotaur and my mom. After that there was silence, she didn't talk so I didn't say anything. I could tell the silence was awkward for her and I smirked while looking dead in front of me, towards the Hermes Cabin.

I walk up to the door and open. I start to take in what it looks like, and it seemed Annabeth was getting impatient. "Well?" She asked, "Go on." I watched my step coming in. I didn't want to be the laughing stock just yet. "Percy Jackson, meet cabin eleven." Annabeth announced.

I heard someone in the back of the cabin have to shout, "Regular or undetermined?"

Annabeth didn't miss a beat, "Undetermined."

Everybody groaned. A familiar face came around the corner. He looked like he was 19. Tall and Muscular. He seemed to have a friendly smile and short-cropped sandy blond hair. I saw a scar that traced from his right eye all the way down to his jawbone. Luke. Flashbacks of cold golden eyes flash inside my head for just a second. I return the friendly smile before he speaks up, "Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. You can have that spot on the floor, right over there."

"This is Luke." She said, though her voice sounded an octave or two higher. I looked over at her and I could see that she had an insane blush that covered her nose. I snorted on accident. She looked at me and her structure hardened again. "He's your counselor for now."

"For now?" I asked.

"You're undetermined," He said patiently, like he's already done this a million times. He probably has. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin eleven takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travelers." He explained. I looked at the space they gave me. A nice portion of the floor that seemed to be clean. I looked back up and looked at some of the people there. Some people had this mischievous look to their face, like they were ready to pick my pockets on command.

I looked back towards Luke and asked, "How long will I be here?"

"Good question," He said. "Until you're determined."

Now I heard the little voice in my head tell me to say ' _How long will that take?'_ I didn't want to sound like a complete idiot, but it had to be done. I swallowed my pride and asked, "How long will that take?"

All the campers in the cabin laughed. For some it was humorless, like some cruel torture they were subjected to when anyone talked about the subject. Even though some of the laughs were like that, my face at least turned a little red.

Annabeth seems to get a little miffed, "Come on," She says, "I'll show you the volleyball court."

"I've already seen it." I said, acting stupid.

"Come on." She grabbed my wrist and forcefully dragged me outside while the Hermes cabin kids are all laughing behind me. "Jackson, you have to do better than that."

"What?" I asked.

She proceeds to roll her eyes and mumble under her breath, "I can't believe I thought you were the one."

"The one? What the hell does that even mean? All I did was kill the Minotaur-" I angrily said.

"Don't talk like that!" She yells at me, just as angry. "You know how many kids at this camp wish they'd had your chance?"

"Oh, yeah, because I love to see my mother get FUCKING KILLED in front of my own two eyes, then have to fight the slab of meat afterwards while my goddamn protector lay PASSED OUT on the gods damn ground!" I yell at her.

She seemed stumped. I smirk inwardly, "I-I-I-I didn't mean i-it like that, I just m-m-" She starts to stutter.

"What did you mean it like then?! That not many people have a chance at GLORY?! I don't give 2 FUCKS about glory! I'm not some pompous ASSHOLE that you expect me to be! Now get the fuck out of the way!" I push her out of the way and start to walk back to observing, but before I can I hear a voice call out to me.

"Well! A newbie!" Clarisse. I turn around and see a 12 to 13 year old her standing a little bit behind Annabeth with three other girls, all wearing the same camo jacket.

"Who are you? What do you want? I just got into an argument with princess over her so hurry it up." I was really irritated right now.

She gave a little chuckle and seemed to look me up and down before asking, "Who are you little runt?"

"Percy Jackson," Annabeth said, making stuff dramatic. "Meet Clarisse, Daughter of Ares."

I hold out my hand for her to shake but she just grunts in response. I sigh and lower my hand down, "Again, what do you want?"

"We got an initiation ceremony for newbies, Prissy."

"Percy." I correct.

"Whatever. Come on, I'll show you." She says, grinning stupidly.

"Clarisse-" Annabeth tries, but gets cut off.

"Stay out of it, wise girl." She retorts. I cringe at the nickname I used to call her. I sigh and look at my horn. I take it out of pocket and start handing it to Annabeth, but before I can, I drop it out of shock. I felt Clarisse pick me up by the neck.

I quickly jab her ribs with my elbow, hard. She hunches over and loosens her grip, but not enough to let me down. I quickly kick in her knee just enough so she buckles. She falls to the ground on one knee and I take her hand off my neck. Everybody looks wide eyed on how easily I forced her down.

I glare at her and say, "If you want to fight, let's at least do it in the arena."

She gives me her own glare while she gets up and says, "I'll enjoy beating you to a pulp."

I smirk as I walk towards the arena. It was time to test my skills again. I haven't been able to test my skills in the past months. In Tartarus, I practiced any weapon I could make. That meant different types of daggers, spears, to different sword types. Most of the sword types didn't really work for me, except the roman gladius, if made right. I found out I was alright with the spear since the trident comes from the spear family I guess. Daggers were a different story, each dagger I made had a different fighting style to it. Damasen helped to make all the weapons and trained me. Being the Giant opposite to Ares really helps.

Once we got into the arena, Annabeth ushered me over to where I could get some weapons and armor. I picked up a simple 6" spear with a circular shield. I told Annabeth armor would only weigh me down, but in all honesty, I was pretty confident in myself. Back in the other world, I could beat Clarisse in a couple of minutes with Riptide. Even though my spear skills aren't perfected, I would call myself one of the best spear/trident users of the time. Right now I'm facing a really watered down version of Clarisse. Once again, I am confident.

I walked out into the middle of the arena with Clarisse a good 20-30 ft. away. Everything was silent and everyone in the arena stopped to look at us, some giving me pitying looks, expecting the 'newbie' to get decimated. I looked over at Clarisse to see her decked out in the heaviest armor I've seen, but she seemed to move fine. By her side was her electric tipped spear, red lightning buzzing off in sparks around the tip. She was carrying a similar shield to mine and giving me a sneer and a smirk at the same time, giving her a weird look to her face.

"Ready to lose?" She asked, getting into an offensive stance, shield raised and her spear low, already giving signs to me that she was going to go at my legs or lower body somehow. I just gave her a smirk and leaned on my spear, giving off a cocky attitude that wasn't normally like me. Someone off in the stands gave us a countdown, giving Clarisse the incentive to charge me with a battle cry while I still sit there looking as casual as ever. Once she was about 10 ft. away I got into a ready position faster than anyone could comprehend. Once in range, Clarisse swept at my legs, trying to catch me by surprise. Though she was the one who faltered when I jumped over it, giving me enough time to kick her shield with quite a bit of force, sending her staggering back.

Apparently that only made her angrier. She got up rushing towards me, sending swipes and stabs at my chest, stomach, and face. I almost laughed at how bad she was. All I was doing was dodging and sometimes smacking her spear away with mine. Now I would usually be able to do this for days, but the little 12 year old body had no stamina, and I was already panting a bit. I decided to end it quick so when Clarisse decided to try and go for a stab at my chest, I sidestepped and knocked the spear out of her hand with my shield, all the while sweeping at her legs. I caught her legs and she fell flat on her ass. Faster than she could handle, I put my foot on her ribs, digging in a bit, and put the spear under her neck.

"Yield?" I asked.

She still seemed to be in a daze. As soon as that cleared she gave me an evil glare, filled with a bit of grudging respect. She grumbled a surrender and I offered her a hand. She seemed surprised at first, but eventually accepted, getting up with a ghost of a smile on her face.

I looked around and saw some campers gathering around to just gawk at us, or specifically me. "What?!" I yelled at them. "Don't you know that staring is rude?!" They all immediately scrambled to do something, some peeking at us every once in a while. I nod to Clarisse out of respect and give her a small 2-finger salute while walking out of the arena. I could feel the glares of her 3 friends watching me walk away. I hear the scuffling of feet on ground behind me and I turn to see Annabeth with a finger on her chin.

"What?" I snap. "What are you thinking?" I ask her.

"I'm thinking," She says. "That I want you on my team for capture the flag."

I scoff at her, "If I can help it, I'm staying as far away as I can from you and your team." Immediately after saying that, I take a turn towards the Amphitheater to find a favorite aunt of mine. I turn the corner and see Lady Hestia sitting in her 9 year old form tending the fire, staring into the mesmerizing flames sadly. I, in turn, smiled sadly at her, then proceeded to walk over the bench she was sitting on.

I plopped down next to her, scaring her out of her wits, making her drop the poker and shoot straight into the air. When she came down she had a hand over her heart, which most likely was beating insanely fast.

I chuckled at her then got off my seat and gave her a deep bow, "Lady Hestia." I say, with all the respect I can muster.

Her eyes widen a bit, and her mouth starts twitching into a smile. "Rise, young hero. How do you know who I am? Why do you bow?" She shoots off the questions in a calm manner.

"First, my name, my lady, is Perseus Jackson or Percy, for short. Why I bow is out of respect. Out of all the gods and goddesses on Olympus, only a few can make up a smidgen of the things you do for Olympus and the Olympian family as a whole. You are what holds the 12 Olympians together, even though most don't realize it. You are willing to give up anything to help your own family. I respect the loyalty that you posses, I am envious of what you have done. In my honest opinion, you are one of the most overlooked goddesses in all of history." I said, looking at her straight in the eyes the whole time. "As for how I know you, that's classified information, Aunt Hestia." I said with a small playful smile at the end before realizing my mistake and slapping a hand over my mouth and looking at her with wide eyes. She was beaming at me with happiness halfway through but now, her eyes resembled mine, almost bulging out of her head while her jaw was hanging down.

"Uh.. I-I-I.." I said, stuttering. "Why am I so stupid?" I muttered to myself, smacking my forehead with the palm of my hand and dragging it down my face.

"How did you know you were a son of Poseidon?" She asked, scooting further away from me, looking at me suspiciously like I was gonna stab her and take her somewhere. She's was most likely thinking I was a traitor.

I sighed. "My lady, if you want I will tell you what you want in a couple days. I'm not gonna hurt you, Lady Hestia, I promise, I swear on the Styx even, it's just that my life is just so hectic up until this point and I have no one to talk to. I need to talk about it openly to another person, with someone who I can trust. This isn't just a secret I can tell anybody, but I do trust you with that kind of information, so please, I beg you to come here. Just a couple days from now, just so I can get this all sorted out." I asked her, my eyes pleading her to say yes.

Hestia looked like she was contemplating real hard. "O-Okay. I'll come."

I immediately jumped out of my seat and picked her up in a hug, twirling around while she giggled like a school girl. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I put her down after a few second, steadying myself from dizziness. "2 days from now Lady Hestia." I say with a wide smile.

"Okay, Percy, I'll see you in a few days." She smiled warmly at me before leaving in a burst of fire.

* * *

 **AN: This was a longer chapter for my standards. I will try to make longer chapters later on more frequently. The poll to vote for the pairing should be up.**

 **~CrackLoader**


	7. Chapter 7

**Percy's POV**

Word about my victory in the sparring session with Clarisse spread quickly. To these kids, no one challenged Clarisse and won, except maybe Chase and Castellan. Once I walked out of the amphitheater, from my talk with Hestia by the fire, people would point fingers at me and whisper things into their friends ears. I got annoyed with it pretty quick. I never liked the hero praise that much, it would either make me embarrassed or mad at people for not recognizing the others that helped me. I could hear the kids, as soon as I turned my back to them, speak in louder tones, which only made me angrier.

I was trying to keep my anger down, but if anyone took one look at me, they could see the irritation building up. I walked back to the Hermes cabin to relax for once in a while. I don't remember when the last time I slept peacefully. In Tartarus, you always had to be alert. A few instances monsters snuck up to me in my sleep, I didn't wake until they were close enough to rip my throat out. My body seemed to adapt though, now I would wake to even the faintest sound or touch, and be battle ready. Even in Yancy, there was some aching feeling of dread come through my body when I lied down on my bed, although I didn't know why.

Once I got into the cabin I looked for my 'special spot' on the ground and plopped down in it when I did find it. The Minotaur horn fell out of my pocket when this happened and made a _clunk_ sound when it hit the floor. I could see out of the corner of my eye, a couple Hermes' sons and daughters look in my direction, probably thinking about stealing it. I looked at it. I forgot it in the field where I met up with Clarisse. I must have absentmindedly picked it up on my way back. I put the horn in my lap and waited for something interesting enough to not make me fidgety. I gained a habit of sharpening my weapons when my ADHD acted up, but since I don't have a whetstone, or a weapon, I couldn't exactly do that.

Luckily, Luke came over with stuff in his hands, a smile on his face, "Found you a sleeping bag," He said, "And here, I stole you some toiletries from the camp store."

I smiled at his joke, but I wasn't exactly 100% sure he was joking. "Thanks" I said.

"No prob." He sat down next to me, back and head pressing against the wall with his eyes searching the cabin. "Tough first day? I heard you beat down Clarisse."

"The day has been here and there for me I guess. Gossip really spreads like wildfire here, huh? I mean, sure I beat Clarisse, but I don't want her to be berated for it. I just got lucky I guess." I lied.

He seemed to think about it for a bit, "If you are a child of Hermes, you get the news first, use some stuff as blackmail or some other stuff like that. Anyway, Clarisse isn't a bad warrior, she usually goes easy on new people and still beats them. From what I heard you lasted minutes against her, so you should have seen her angry side. Clarisse likes to end things quick. Good job either way."

I was about to go on a touchy subject with Luke, and I knew it, but I had to act innocent. "So is there any reason all the unclaimed get stuffed in here, or why there aren't any minor god cabins?" I asked, a little sting in my voice when talking about the subject.

Luke seemed surprised that I asked the question. He took a switchblade out of his back pocket, and for a second I thought I was going to get stabbed but he just started scraping the dirt of the bottom of his sandal. "Hermes, my father, god of messengers, medicine, travelers, merchants, and thieves. Anybody who uses the roads. That's why all the unclaimed are here, enjoying cabin eleven's hospitality. Hermes isn't picky about who he sponsors. As for why the minor gods don't have cabins, well, you can blame the Olympians for that. They only care for themselves, that's why you only see cabins built for themselves." Luke said, not even trying to hide the same poison he spit on the gods' decision that I did.

He looked up from his sandal and forced a smile at me, "Don't worry Percy. The campers here, they're mostly good people. After all, we're extended family, right? We take care of each other."

I smiled at him and decided to change the subject. "You know that Annabeth girl?" I asked.

He nodded. "She's like a sister to me."

I smile and nod back. "She shoots off questions like nobody's business, man. Does she have any sense of control over her mouth? Or more importantly, does she know what privacy is?" I asked, trying to get a laugh out of him. It worked wonderfully.

As soon as I ended the sentence he exploded with laughter and I gave him a chuckle of my own. After a couple seconds, he stopped and wiped a tear from his eye, "Whew! That's Athena's kids for ya, Perce. They like to know everything. I mean _everything._ If there is anything in their field of view that they _don't_ know anything about, they try and find out as much as they can about it. And if it's a person, the only way you can find something out about that person is by asking them things. So no, privacy rarely comes up in her world. Now, come on, it dinner time!" He told me. As soon as he said that, the conch horn sounded in the distance. Luke got up and yelled, "Eleven, fall in!" Everyone came and lined up behind him. The line was ordered by seniority, so of course, I was dead last.

We all marched along the ground towards the dining pavilion. At the pavilion, the torches on the columns blazed with bright orange fire. A central fire burned in the brazier which was about the size of a bathtub. The flames were warmer and calmer that the torchlight. The 100 or so campers sat at their tables and began to converse. I saw Mr.D, his twin sons, Grover, and a couple other satyrs sitting at table 12.

Chiron was standing off to one side in his full centaur form. He stomped his hoof on the marble floor of the dining pavilion to call us to attention. He raised his glass and said, "To the gods!"

Everyone else, including me, followed his example and repeated, "To the gods!"

The 10 to 15 wood nymphs I saw coming from the woods earlier walked around with platters filled with grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, fresh bread, and barbecue. I thanked them once we got our food and they giggled at me, proceeding to walk away. I looked at my glass, waiting for someone to tell me what to do with it. I was getting thirsty. Finally, Luke came to the rescue. "Speak to it. Whatever you want nonalcoholic, of course."

"Cherry Coke" I said, testing it. I watched as said drink filled the glass. "Blue Cherry Coke" I corrected. The drink turned a shining cobalt blue. I smiled and casually sipped my drink.

I heard a voice beside me, "Here you go, Percy." I looked over at Luke to see him with a platter full of smoked brisket. I loaded my plate and once again waited like a clueless fuck. I heard people getting up and go to the middle brazier. "Come on." Luke said to me, following the others. Once we got there Luke told me the situation. "Burnt offerings for the gods. They like the smell."

"Weird people, man, I tell ya'" I joked. I could see a small smile on Luke's face but his eyes told me to take this seriously. Luke approached and threw in a cluster of grapes and said, "Hermes." While bowing his head in respect.

I was up next. I heard the voice in my head again telling me what to say, it seems to do this for important events in my life. I sent a fake prayer to my father. 'Whoever you are, tell me. Please.' As I prayed this, I threw in a juicy slice of brisket, fighting back the whimper when I lost some of my best food on the plate. I caught a whiff of the burnt offerings and smiled at the mesmerizing scent.

I retreated back to the stuffed table and finished my meal along with everyone else. Chiron once again stomped his hoof to get everyone's attention. Once everyone was paying attention, Mr.D got up with a big sigh. "Yes, I suppose I'd better say hello to all you brats. Well, hello. Our activities director, Chiron, says the next capture the flag is Friday. Cabin five presently holds the laurels." Cheering came from the Ares cabin. "Personally," He continued, "I couldn't care less, but congratulations. Also, I should tell you that we have a new camper today. Peter Johnson." Chiron leaned over and whispered something in his ear. "Er, Percy Jackson, that's right. Hurrah, and all that. Now run along to your silly campfire. Go on." He ordered us. Everyone cheered. I felt multiple stares on me. I resisted the urge to snap and yell at them.

We all headed to the amphitheater where the Apollo cabin lead a sing-along, which I half-heartedly joined in on. Everyone just had a good time joking around and eating s'mores. By the end of the sing-along, I didn't have to look over my shoulder to glare at the person staring at me.

Much later, when everyone was just a bit sleepy, yawns being thrown out at eachother, the conch horn sounded again, signaling bed time. Some people grumbled while they got up saying they were comfy here. Once I got into the Hermes cabin, I snuggled into my sleeping bag, fingers wrapped around my Minotaur horn that I've been carrying around all day. I closed my eyes and instantly fell asleep, going dreamless.

* * *

The next day after opening my eyes, I wanted to make my own schedule. I wanted to train my ass off, more than anyone here. The stronger I was, the more friends I could save. As soon as I got outside, I jogged to the perimeter of camp, planning to do atleast 5 laps around camp before moving on. I started out casually, running my first lap, only coming through the starting point with labored breathing. The 2nd lap was harder. 3rd lap is where I wanted to die. The lap before, I already had to work hard enough. By the time I was done with all laps, 40 minutes had passed and I was face first on the ground sweating like a maniac. I felt like my training was done for the day. Unfortunately, even though my body was screaming at me to stop, in my mind I still had work to do.

By the time I was off the ground, everyone was off to eat breakfast. I hopped in at the back of the Hermes cabin, earning a few questioning looks to which I just shrugged off. Once we got settled down and burned our offerings, Luke turned to me, "Why are you sweating?" He asked, munching on some toast.

"Went out for a morning run. Couple laps around the camp. Figured if all this stuff was real, might aswell train hard." I explained while panting, still not recovered. I saw some cabin mates stare at me open-mouthed but didn't give them any mind. Luke just raised an eyebrow, but eventually went back to eating.

After breakfast we went to Ancient Greek class which was taught by Annabeth. She seemed to pick on me a little, but I got through without a problem. Once the outdoor activities were in roll though, I pushed my body to the limit, all my muscles were straining by the time we were done with each activity. Well, most things. I still had to show Chiron I was horrid at archery. He kicked me out of the class as soon as I almost shot someones head off who was behind me.

Foot racing I wasn't too bad at, but the wood-nymphs always beat me by a landslide. They tried to encourage me by telling their silly stories of how lovesick gods chase them around. Although I wasn't felling bad at all, I was happy they tried.

Wrestling? I was still too weak in the strength department for that. Clarisse, for now, would have an upper hand on me at something. Canoeing was something I was good at. Meh.

The day went on until my favorite activity came up. Sword fighting. I was ready. Luke, the instructor at the time, seemed surprised by my skill, even though I was toning it down quite a bit. We were just stabbing and slashing at some straw dummies. The sword I was using seemed a bit top-heavy aswell. I tried to compensate but it would always feel awkward in my hands no matter what.

We eventually moved on to dueling pairs. Luke wanted to practice some moves he was teaching on me today. Some camper warned me, "Good luck," He said, "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

I just nodded at him and we started. I won't lie. Once Luke figured he could go all out on me, he was good. I had a bit of a challenge on my hands. I would beat him everytime, not batting an eyelash at my victory. This only seemed to anger him, he was more determined everytime I removed my blade from his throat. By the time he called for break, I was panting and sweating buckets. My muscles felt like they were ripped by Scylla herself. My leg muscles, my arm muscled, my biceps, stomach. All burning with some extreme pain. I wasn't going to let that stop me though.

I went over to where the ice-water was and dumped it all over my head. I instantly felt the pain go down drastically. The sword in my hands didn't seem so difficult to wield.

Luke called us over, "Okay, everybody circle up!" He yelled, "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo." The Hermes campers gathered into an even tighter circle then, some grinning sadistically. He was showing the same disarming technique that was glued into my brain. This trick was child's play for me. He demonstrated the move in slow motion, showing everyone how to properly get the bottom of someones blade before twisting, successfully disarming them.

He kept repeating the same stuff, "This is difficult, I've had it used against me. Percy is a great swordsman from what I've learned, but even then, no laughing if he fails. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique." I gave Luke a knowing glance and instantly his demeanor changed.

He narrowed his eyes in anger, "Now in real time," He said, an unfriendly tone in his voice. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?" After that, everyone looked at me like I had seriously messed up. They noticed the change in his voice, going from warm to cold.

I nodded and Luke barreled after me with some impressive speed, giving me no time to react. I still layed calm and simply backed out of his stab at my stomach. He slashed at the right side of my neck and at the last second I moved my head back and to the left a bit to avoid the powerful swing. His blade kept going on his path toward the ground and I took the chance. I jabbed at the hilt of his sword and turned my blade the moment it scraped the side. I kept his shield at bay, already planning ahead. When I took the stab at the hilt of his blade, I had to step into it. Once I was close enough I put my hand on the top of the shield and gave a sharp tug with just enough force so that he couldn't get it out of my grasp without some preparation first.

All the campers were silent. No one had seen their cabin leader, the supposed best swordsmen of the last 3 centuries, got beaten by the new kid in mere seconds. Luke was seething. He looked at me and I knew that HE knew I was playing with him. "Show me that again." He demanded. I beat him a couple times more and everyone eventually went back to sparring with their partners, trying the new move.

* * *

After finishing the day off I went to sleep, once again going dreamless. I woke up the next morning feeling sore as all Hades. I snuck out of the cabin once again to do my laps around camp. I already felt myself improving. Well, if not falling down at the end of the run was called making progress, he was doing great. The whole time he ran though the only thing on his mind was Hestia. He started asking himself questions: How am I going to start off the conversation? Will she believe me? Stuff like this wasn't his specialty. Explaining stuff to other people always seemed awkward to him.

I silently hopped into the back of the Hermes cabin line, not speaking a single word, my mind racing. Luckily no one payed any attention to me. Ancient Greek with Annabeth went smoothly. Once we were outside though, I didn't follow any type of routine. I first went to the climbing wall, ignoring the angered shouts of Luke telling me to stick with the cabin. I spent about an hour and a half there, trying my best to keep my limbs from failing me after the session.

I went to the lake and took a quick dip to get my energy back. I thought back to when I was at Yancy, controlling the water in a nearby fountain outside the foundation. I took a quick look around me to make sure no one was around and started to practice my water control more. About halfway through I stopped using my hands to guide the water and tried to control it using just my mind. By the time I was able to raise a shaky tendril of water, I was soaked in sweat, taking deep breaths. After releasing the water, I sighed in relief and layed down in the water for a couple minutes to regain my strength.

I got up and ran down to the arena where the Ares cabin currently was. When I walked in, some gave me sneers, some just looked, and others just kept on fighting one another. I grabbed a training sword and started hacking dummies with all my strength. I started using the Greco-Roman fighting style I picked up from my time with the Romans, absentmindedly. By the end of just one minute 20 straw dummies were cut up and bashed, some missing limbs. I saw some people turn to gawk at me, which I pointedly ignored.

About 6 Ares guys came up to me, "Hey, punk. You must think you're hot shit, don't 'cha? Face us, little runt, and then we'll see how good you are against some real warriors." The 'leader' of the group said. Some agreement came from his friends.

"Alright." I said casually. I raised my sword and nodded at him and his friends. They all took out their own personal weapons and charges, some of them tripping over eachother. Ugly #1 AKA The leader, tried to go for a stab at my stomach with a sword. I easily parried it with my own blade so his veered off to the side. I caught the part of the blade that meets the hilt and flicked up, knocking it out of his hands. I quickly stepped forward and hit him in the temple with the hilt of my sword, knocking him out.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I instinctively ducked, watching the spear pass over me. I turned around as I stood up and got a good look at Ugly #2 and #3. One had a spear and shield while the other had a simple sword. I felt the same sensation on my neck again and I ducked once more but this time jabbed Mr. Ugly #4 in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. He hunched over, gasping for breath. I hit him in the back of the head with the flat of my blade, pushing him into the ground, hard, putting him unconscious.

As soon as he was down, I charged #2 and #3. Spear man tried to jab at my chest while sword boy slashed at my legs. I jumped and twisted avoiding both attacks. Sword boy slashed at my stomach now, but I easily deflected the blade and put the hilt of my sword to his temple. Out cold. #3 tried slashing at me with his spear head but I blocked it with my sword, grabbing the spear in the process. I could see him apply more pressure on the shaft and I smirked. I pulled with all my might and he came stumbling forward right into the hilt of my sword.

I quickly picked up the spear and shield from him, ready to face my last 2 attackers. I saw Ugly #5 come towards me with a battle cry. What I didn't know was that Ugly #6 came up behind me and slashed at my back. My instincts picked up from there. I sidestepped the blade and hissed in pain when a cut formed on my arm. I glared at him in anger and started to play with him, giving him very many cuts on his arms and legs in a matter of seconds. I finally decided to end his torment and knock him out quickly.

I turned my head towards the last contestant, who had slowed down considerably after seeing my display. I could see fear in his eyes. I calmly walked up to him and put my sword to his throat. "Dead" I said. Then walked off. Not long after I left the arena, the conch horn for lunch sounded. I quickly went back to the Hermes Cabin and lined up with the others. Once in the dining pavilion, everyone was having a good time with one another. Once food was served, I went to the brazier and scraped some food in. 'For Hestia' I prayed.

After lunch, I walked to the amphitheater and sat around the campfire waiting for Hestia. About 30 minutes of waiting, the fire in the middle exploded with colors. I jumped out of fright which was followed by childish laughter. I turned around to see Hestia covering her mouth with her hand, trying hard not to laugh.

"Don't laugh at me! That was scary stuff." This only made her laugh more. I sighed, "Do you have any where private we could talk?" She took a while to calm down but eventually flashed us somewhere. The place seemed to look like a normal home. It seemed like the perfect family house and gave off an aura of coziness.

"Is this your palace, milady?" She nods and ushers me over to a couch in front of a fireplace.

"Now, what is it you wanted to talk about? And how do you know you are a son of Poseidon?" She asks.

I sigh and look her straight in the eyes. "Basically, I know everything that is going to happen in the next 6 to 7 years."

* * *

 **That is everything for this chapter. I will have some surprises for next chapter. While you wait, don't forget to vote on who Percy should be paired with. Go to my profile page and at the top is the poll and it's selections.**

 **The poll currently stands with votes for:**

 **Calypso: 1**

 **Thalia: 1**

 **Bianca: 0**

 **Zo** **e** **: 0**

 **Hestia: 0**

 **Reyna: 0**

 **Rachel: 0**

 **~CrackLoader**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hestia's POV**

"Exuse me?" I asked.

He sighed, "I know everything that is going to happen in these next years. I mean _everything._ "

I just stared at him and blinked, "How?" I asked.

He sighed once again, "I can't tell you too much because the fates would be at my neck, but once we -as in the gods and demi-gods- finished...things, I was accused of treason against Olympus and marked as a traitor." I gasped as he said this but he went on as if nothing happened, "The votes weren't on my side and I got sentenced to Tartarus. I was in there for 2 years. I met a giant named Damasen, and he helped me with the horrors of Tartarus. Since he was supposed to be the giant opposite of Ares, he trained me so I could eventually live on my own. I did do that eventually, but I would occasionally go back to Damasen to train and say hi. As you know, demi-gods are diagnosed with ADHD, so at times Tartarus would get boring." I stared at him like he was crazy. "I know. I eventually became immune to the effects of Tartarus, though I'm surprised I don't have nightmares. I used to be a little bit of an adrenaline junkie down there. I would search out monsters, titans that haven't scratched their way out yet, anythings that would give me a thrill. I killed most of my enemies. I made sure the titans were killed."

I was starting to get a bit frightened of what happened to Percy. I did admire him for having the skill and power to do such things, but also scared of what he could do to me. He sighed, exasperated, and moved next to me, putting his arm around my shoulder to reassure me. "Lady Hestia, calm down. Like I said, I'm not gonna gonna hurt you. I'm fine now, I survived that and now I'm here. I'm gonna try to fix everything, okay."

I nodded. "That still doesn't explain why you are here, Percy."

"Well, on one of my 'adrenaline rush adventures', I ran into...someone who I defeated in the past, while I was on the surface." I nodded, understanding the story so far. "He wanted revenge. Just like any other evil person. He said I was going to re-live the betrayal of my friends, over and over again. Never stopping. I think he wanted to do this without me having my memories, but apparently he was too weak to do so." I looked at him with sadness and pity clear on my face, a frown stretching it. He sighed again. "Now, here I am, in a alternate universe basically. Stuck here forever, explaining my problems to you, even though you'll most likely forget for next time around." After he said this, he put his head in his hands.

I looked at him with sadness again and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Then it hit me, only 1 person could do something like that who hasn't faded yet. "My father did this to you, Percy?"

He nodded sadly, "It is definitely putting on the stress. Knowing who will die in the future, who gets held captive, who is the victor of the wars." He clamped his mouth shut after that.

"Wars?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Said too much." He simply said. I nodded in understanding. "I guess the only thing that comes good from this is that Fate doesn't control me." He said flashing me a wicked grin.

I looked at him in surprise and then happiness. "Couldn't you save all your friends then, Percy?"

His face lit up, but then darkened though. "Actually, not all. Some. The Fates are cruel. They will find a way to kill. Either that or Nemesis will 'fix' things. The world needs balance, I can't just go around saving everybody's lives like Superman. I wish I could though." He mumbled the last part, but I still heard him.

"Percy, sometimes you can't have everything. Sacrifices need to be made." I tried to make him feel better, but it didn't seem to be working

After some minutes of silence, Percy stood and looked at me. "Thank you, Lady Hestia. I definitely needed to talk about that."

He smiled at me and I smiled back. "Not a problem. Anytime you need some advice or just someone to talk to, come to the hearth." He nodded and I flashed him back to camp.

* * *

 **Percy's POV**

For the next couple of days, I went back to the routine of jogging around the camp, Ancient Greek, and then whatever outdoor activities seemed fitting for the day, pushing myself to the absolute max.

Eventually the Ares cabin got used to me coming in during their time in the arena. I mainly just practiced on some dummies, but every once in a while some egotistical Ares kid would come up to me and ask for a fight. They became less and less frequent the more people I fought. Everyone but Clarisse seemed afraid of my skill. Me and Clarisse have already started to form a friend/enemy bond. Anytime I would come into the arena, she would challenge me to a spar. She seemed unusually friendly. When we were fighting she'd have a grin on the whole time, like she was enjoying having someone she could spar with often, sometimes, I would get that grin too. Even though if I went full out on her, she would be down in seconds, we would often fight for a couple minutes before taking a break and going into another fight. It was exhilarating work.

My water powers have gotten exponentially better for some reason I can't explain, but it was still difficult to control with just my mind. For now though, I could pick up the whole river with my hands and hold it there for a few minutes. Focusing on the water with my brain though, I can get a nice sized branch of water and control it smoothly for a minute or 2. By the end of my training sessions with water, I had passed out multiple times, I even woke up with some random son of Demeter telling me the camp sent some sort of search party after me. I had to come up with some lame excuse for that one.

I had gotten a little muscle over the time of my training. Well, as muscular as a 12-year old who hasn't hit puberty yet can get.

I did this for days, weeks even, before the day for capture the flag came rolling in. Once everyone was done in the pavilion, everyone stood while some Athena and Ares campers came in, Clarisse from Ares and Annabeth from Athena were proudly holding the wonderful silk banners, both with smiles on their faces. Everyone, but a couple people including me, cheered when they raised the flags high.

I was standing next to Luke right now and asked, "Whoose team are we on?"

Luke grinned, "We've made a temporary alliance with Athena. Tonight, we get the flag from Ares. And you are going to help." I groaned as he said this.

We all went to the edge of the forest and listened to Chiron's rule introduction. "Campers!" He called, "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!" He then spread his hands and weapons and armor was layed out on a table for us.

I immediately tried to look for a spear or trident, not totally 100% confident with the sword. I mainly wanted a spear though, because a trident might give someone the idea of my parentage. Luckily, I found a nicely sized spear and a 10 inch knife and sheath that I hurriedly collected before someone could snatch them. I couldn't find a shield which was disappointing. I still didn't like the idea of armor so I stayed clear of that section. Though Chiron ordered me to put on the helmet with the blue plume on top so people could recognize me as friend or foe.

I, of course, was assigned border patrol. Annabeth said something and everyone marched. I marched forward aswell, but not before turning to the red team, or mainly Clarisse, and mouthing 'Help.' She just shrugged as to say, 'I can't help you with that.'

Once we got to the creek, Annabeth called me forward and motioned for me to stand near the creek and defend. I heard the faint sound of the conch horn and almost immediately, people were zooming past me toward enemy territory.

I then heard a low growl and I grinned manically under my helmet. I remembered this perfectly. The same hellhound that scared the daylights out of me in my first capture the flag game wasn't even worth a second of my time now. I still stayed wary though. The fates could have planned anything. I may not be controlled by them, but they control what is around me. The growling soon stopped though as I raised my spear, ready for a fight.

I then heard many voices, yelling from the other side of the river. I looked over and saw 10 Ares campers with Clarisse leading them.

"Hey Prissy!" She called over the stream, "How 'bout we finally settle this little...dispute that's been going on, eh?" She challenged.

"Let's have some fun then." I said in a dark and creepy voice, with another maniacal grin on my face. Some looked frightened while others sneered at the challenge.

The first four came at me and I defeated them within seconds, using simple parries and using the non-lethal part of my spear to knock them cold. The other 5 and Clarisse came up to me and circled me, just out of my range.

I waited.

Soon, they all got impatient and charged all at the same time. I got low and used the spear with one hand to circle around my body, trying to trip anyone. Like I thought, most jumped or back-stepped and avoided the spear, but 2 didn't get so lucky. 1 of them didn't even try to jump while the other didn't jump fast enough and got knocked off balance. They both came tumbling down and luckily for me, 1 of them hit their head on a rock which knocked him out instantly. The second, who was a girl, tried to get up fast but I was already there using the butt of my spear for the back of her head. I quickly snuck in another knock-out by hitting another guy right between the eyes, who couldn't seem to get his balance after landing from the jump.

Now there was three, 2 girls and 1 guy, counting Clarisse. I was still toning down the fighting alot, but Clarisse was looking at me in new light. I grinned at them and ran at them at fast speeds.

They were all sleeping 2 seconds later.

Just as I finished, I heard yelling and happy screams. I looked over the creek once more and saw Luke, trailed by some Hermes guys, with a red banner in his hand. Right as he crossed the creek, a conch horn sounded and the silk flag changed. From red to silver, and from a boar and spear to a caduceus. The blue team picked up Luke and started chanting his name.

By this time Clarisse had gotten up with a groan and muttered, "A trick. Gods damn it." Her other brothers and sisters were still sleeping soundly, some even snoring. _Maybe Clarisse has gotten used to being knocked out._ I thought cheekily.

I turned and stared at the air next to me with a raised eyebrow. The air I was looking at shimmered and showed a blond girl with her mouth gaping and her eyes darting across the area. Then she noticed me looking at her and she slumped down even more, trying to get her chin to touch the dirt.

She slowly dropped her hand and asked, "Where did you learn to fight like that?" She demanded, "I mean, rumors that you were good but I didn't think that you could do _this._ "

I said, "I don't know." while shrugging my shoulders, but my grin told her otherwise. She scowled and was about to say something before a growl interrupted her.

I immediately became battle ready. "QUIET!" I yelled with a powerful voice. Everyone quieted down instantly. Some cowered and some sent me questioning looks. I wasn't focused on them though, I had my eyes narrowed on the ground trying to sense the presence of the hellhound. My eyes widened when I felt 3 power points behind me. I turned around as fast as I could while taking out my regular (not throwing) knife and throwing it at 1 of them. I managed to catch the hellhound from the Fields of Punishment in the eye, killing him instantly. While everyone was scrambling to get their weapons, my eyes widened even more when I saw two empousai behind the hellhound body.

I immediately rushed in onto one disarming, and stabbing her while subconsciously using water to snap the neck of the other, killing both of them instantly.

Everyone now was looking at me open-mouthed. Even Chiron. I had just taken out a more powerful hellhound and 2 of Hecate's servants in a second. One of them I killed with water, which I was just now realizing. I could see why that would make some of them surprised.

"Di immortales!" Annabeth cursed, "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't...they're not supposed to...and Hecate..." She trailed off.

"Someone summoned them." Chiron informed, "Someone inside the camp." He said gravely, looking over the clump of campers quickly, as to not accuse anybody or make anybody offended.

We all watched as the dead body of the hellhound melt into the shadows. Just then a light green color came falling on my face. I looked up and saw a 3-pronged trident over my head turning slowly. Turning on my acting skills, I stood and stupidly stared at it with my jaw dropped.

Chiron came trotting forward and bowed to me, "Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Poseidon, The God of the Sea, Father of Horses, and the Earthshaker." All around me campers started dropping. Some to their knees, and others that had fainted. The Ares cabin didn't look too fond of having to bow to me except Clarisse. She was just looking at me in more awe than before.

* * *

I moved out of the Hermes cabin as fast as I could. Once I was in cabin three and was all packed, I layed down on my bed and started relaxing, giddy to be in my home again. I had plenty of room for the minimal amount of stuff I had. I still didn't like the vibrant colors that I was wearing so I made a mental note to go and buy some black clothes from the camp store. So much so that I would start looking like a Hades kid. I eventually got dragged into sleep by Hypnos.

I woke up the next day and went to breakfast at my own table while everyone, save a couple people, were eyeing me like the plague. I did my own schedule, not having anyone yelling at me, sometimes even skipping Ancient Greek for other activities. Having a little chat with Hestia here and there. I got to go to sleep whenever I wanted, not following someones order of "Lights out!" The only ones willing to fight me were Clarisse and Luke. Though Luke was doing for spite. Clarisse was still cool with me for the most part, but I could see the smidgen of fear in her eyes when we fought. I was pretty lonely for the most part.

And I absolutely loved it.

One day I found a newpaper in front of the door of my cabin that said me and my mother were missing and I was a suspect of my mothers disappearance. I balled up the paper and threw it in the trash can. I wouldn't let something like that ruin the best days of this 'new life' so far. I went straight to bed and for my first time in weeks I had a dream. And it wasn't good.

I was standing on a beach next to an ocean. Don't ask me how I knew that. Poseidon powers I guess. Two men with beards and long hair in Greek tunics, one lined with blue, the other green. I knew exactly who these two men were, Poseidon and Zeus. They wrestled and grappled eachother. Each time one hit the other, the sky got darker or the waves on the surf would get bigger.

I stood there with a blank face watching the two fight, yelling at eachother like kindergartners. The ground cracked open beside me and cold metallic laughter filled the air.

 _Come down, little hero._ Kronos laughed. _Come down!_

I couldn't fight the force pulling me down. I eventually came falling down the cavern. Once again.

The fall was alot shorter this time though. Maybe 30 seconds. When I reached the bottom, the fall that should've broken my legs, didn't hurt at all. It was a soft landing. I looked around to see I was in an underground prison. Cells littered the walls, each with someone in them. Some I recognized.

I couldn't move my body, it moved for me. I walked to a cell and looked inside. In there, on two separate sides of the cell, were Apollo and Artemis. Apollo's usual tan complexion was now ghost white. It didn't seem normal on him. His shirt was ripped and I could see the number of scars that littered his body. His hair was soaked with sweat, matted across his forehead. His face was so bloody and bruised, I doubted he could actually open his eyes.

Artemis didn't look any better. Most of her clothes were ripped off, but still enough that they covered her personal areas. Her stomach was filled with scars and blood from recently opened wounds. Her face was also cut up an scarred. Blood and sweat caked her hair, making it stick to her forehead, neck, and the side of her head.

They were each hung up with what looked like train spikes. I stood there and looked on, horrified.

Once they saw me, they flipped.

I didn't hear all of it but I caught things here and there.

"You had my respect! We trusted you!" Artemis.

"You betrayed us! Go! We don't want you!" Apollo.

"Traitor! Traitor! Traitor!"

I woke up to their chanting, sweat everywhere on my body. I couldn't tell if I was crying, because the sweat was already dripping off of me. I got up and got into the shower, trying to cleanse myself. I felt immense guilt from the things they said to me. From the way they were hanging there, looking tortured for years.

Another fresh wave of grief and dread came over me. I knew that wouldn't be the last of those kind of dreams.

* * *

 **AN: A weird chapter for sure. Sorry for not updating sooner. I don't really have an excuse, just slacking off. While you do wait for the next chapter though, vote for who Percy is paired up with in this story.** **Go to my profile page and at the top is the poll and it's selections.**

 **Poll Results so far: (If you didn't vote by poll, I also take your reviews for votes.) I decided to add Clarisse to the poll because it wasn't so popular, and I like new and interesting things. Though she will be at a disadvantage, vote for her if you think she should win.**

 **Calypso: 4**

 **Hestia: 4**

 **Rachel: 2**

 **Reyna: 1**

 **Thalia: 1**

 **No one: 1**

 **Zoe: 0**

 **Bianca: 0**

 **Clarisse: 0**

 **~CrackLoader**


	9. Chapter 9

**Percy's POV**

Once I got out of my shower and got dressed, I heard clopping footsteps on wood outside my door. Then I heard a knock.

"Come in!" I yelled.

Grover came in, looking down and wringing his hands. A sure sign of nervousness. "Mr.D wants to see you." He stated plainly.

I just nodded and he clopped off somewhere other than my cabin. I was expecting a summons sometime soon anyway, either for a quest, or if the Fates were cruel, to get judged and die in a explosion of ashes on the Olympian throne room floor.

Once outside my cabin, I looked up to see the storm from my dreams still brewing. As I was walking through the camp, everyone seemed tense. I usually saw people glance at the storm uneasily, and once they'd catch my eyes, they'd tense up even more and quickly avert their gaze. I eventually made it to the Big House porch, where it looked exactly the same it had when I first came into camp. On one side there was Mr.D looking like he just woke up, occasionally sipping from the Diet Coke can, looking neutral about my arrival. Chiron looked grim. His face held some pity for me when he looked up from the game.

"Our little celebrity." Dionysus said, not even looking up.

"You called, sir?" I asked.

"Come closer," He demanded. "And don't expect me to kowtow to you, mortal, just because old Barnacle-Beard is your father." Lightning flashed through the clouds, the sound of thunder not even coming a second later.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah." Dionysus said.

Chiron had a sudden interest in the pinochle cards.

"If I had my way, I would cause your molecules to erupt in flames. We'd sweep up the ashes and be done with a lot of trouble. But Chiron seems to feel this would be against my mission at this cursed camp: to keep you little brats safe from harm."

"Spontaneous combustion is a form of harm, Mr.D" Chiron put in.

"Bah, boy wouldn't feel a thing. Nevertheless, I've agreed to restrain myself. I'm thinking of turning you into a dolphin instead, sending you back to your father."

"Mr.D-"Chiron warned.

"Oh, all right," Dionysus relented, "There's one more option. But It's deadly foolishness." Dionysus stood, the cards being held by the invisible players dropped, signaling that they were now gone. "I'm off to Olympus for the emergency meeting. If the boy is still here when I get back, I'll turn him into an Atlantic bottlenose. Do you understand? And Perseus Jackson, if you're at all smart, you'll see that's a much more sensible choice than what Chiron feels you must do"

Through the whole exchange, I just stood off, an expressionless mask on my face, showing no emotion. This seemed to unnerve the old centaur a bit as he looked at me with a strained smile. "Sit, Percy." He told me.

He looked like he was about to say something, but held back. "The other option Mr.D was talking about, Percy, was a quest. A quest must be issued. Will you accept it?" He asked.

"What is the quest about, sir?" I asked.

He grimaced. "Ah, details. I was hoping you didn't ask." I stayed completely emotionless.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. "Poseidon and Zeus are fighting over something. Something valuable was stolen." I 'guessed'.

Chiron leaned closed and put his hand on his chin, looking at me curiously. "How did you know that."

"Look around you, Chiron." I said spreading my hands, motioning to the sky. "The weather is restless. I overheard Annabeth and some other people talking about a thief. Dreams, nightmares I should say, have plagued my mind." The part about Annabeth was a lie. I just felt like messing with some people.

He sighed, "Nevertheless, Percy, you are correct. This quarrel between your father and Zeus could mean world annihilation. They are fighting over a stolen item, more specifically: Zeus' Master Bolt."

I just nodded at him, my face grim.

"Do not take this lightly, Percy. This was the first symbol of power made by the Cyclopes for the war against the Titans. It has enough power, that when thrown could make a hydrogen bomb look like a simple firecracker."

Last time, I didn't understand the situation fully. This was a weapon in which could kill a god in a couple throws. My face instantly paled as Chiron explained to me how the Master Bolt worked once again. "And it was stolen, sir?" I asked.

He nodded.

"Any idea on who it could be?" I asked.

"By you, Perseus Jackson." He responded. I stared at him blanked faced, making him shift in his wheelchair a little. "At least, that's what Zeus proposes. He thinks Poseidon is trying to overthrow him, so he used you as a means of stealing his bolt. Symbols of power cannot be stolen by other gods, mind you." Chiron explained. "If you did not return the bolt, my boy, you would be the first to feel Zeus' wrath."

I merely nodded and asked, "If Poseidon doesn't have it then who does? I suppose you suspect Hades?"

He looked surprised, but nodded at my question. "Yes, Hades would most benefit from this situation."

I scrunched up my eyebrows in thought. "I do not think so, Chiron. There is something menacing at work here. Something more ancient and dark. Older than the gods. I felt the presence in my dream, trying to pull me down into my own personal hell to get itself out. I have my suspicions on what or _who_ it could be, but let's hope I am wrong."

Chiron sent me an almost fearful glance. "You are very wise for your age Percy. You have a way with words that even Athena could respect." I nodded in thanks at his compliment. "Anyways, now you must consult the Oracle. Go to the attic, Percy, and when you come down, assuming you're still sane, we will talk more about your quest." I nodded and he lead me upstairs.

As soon as I made up to the attic the smell of old leather and dust come to my nostrils. The whole place smelt like an old book that you just riffled through. I walked through the maze of Greek Hero spoils to finally meet the mummy I've seen lots of times. She sat on a three legged stool with a glazed look in the petrifying slitted white eyes. She suddenly started sitting up in the stool slowly while her mouth snapped open, sending out a misty green smoke that surrounded me.

I heard a slick voice inside my head, ' _I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach seeker, and ask.'_

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I opened my eyes slowly and asked, "What is my destiny?"

The mist around me suddenly became more active, I saw Gabe and his buddies at their poker table.

Slowly, each in the voice of the Oracle, they recited my prophecy.

 _Four shall go west and face the god who has turned,_

 _You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned,_

 _You shall be betrayed by the one most see as a friend,_

 _And you shall fail to save what matters most in the end._

And with that, the mist cleared and the Oracle slumped back into the stool, looking as if she never moved from her previous position.

I frowned. I was expecting more change in my fate, or something of a bigger scale. I returned downstairs, thinking of how to prophecy had not changed much.

"Well?" Chiron asked, concerned as he saw the concentration on my face.

I sat down at a chair on the porch and said, "Four shall go west and face the god who has turned, You shall find what was stolen and see it safely returned, you shall be betrayed by the one most see as a friends, and you shall fail to save what matters most in the end."

"Hmm." He answered, eyebrows scrunched. "Know this, Percy, the Oracle's words often have double meanings, most things in the prophesy don't come clear until they actually happen."

"Where would I go for the quest?" Only feigning curiosity.

"West. That is my only answer for you, Percy. Even if you don't think Hades is at work here, try and get some information out of him. The entrance to the Underworld is somewhere in Los Angeles." I nodded in thanks to his answer, still not fully done thinking about my fate.

Chiron seemed to go deeper into thought for a couple seconds before speaking again, "Now, usually you would only have 3 people total on the quest but it seems the Oracle has requested different. For the reason, I don't know." He explained. "Now Grover is one member on the quest. As you know he needs to redeem himself so he can get his searchers license. Another has volunteered for the quest if you should accept her help."

"Do I _have_ to take Athena's prick with me, she'll talk my questmates and I to death before we reach Nebraska." I groaned out. Just as I said that, the air behind Chiron shimmered. Annabeth was standing there glaring at me, with the cap in her hand by her side. I just sat there smirking.

"You should know, Owl Dung, that that little hat of yours doesn't work on me."

She took a deep breath to calm down, but it was blatantly obvious that she was fuming. "I've been waiting for a quest for a long time for a quest." She spat. "Athena is no fan of Poseidon but if you're gonna save the world, I'm the best person to keep you from messing up." She said, holding her head even higher that before after the last sentence.

"Yea, okay. Sure, I'll take you. There has to be at least some form of entertainment on this quest." I said, smirking in her direction, which only made her fume more.

"Okay," Chiron cut in, trying to defuse a ticking Annabeth. "who will be your 4th quest member, Percy?"

I knew my answer immediately. "I'll take Clarisse if she's up for it. I'll go ask her if she wants to come, if not I'll ask someone else."

Chiron nodded, "Excellent. This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you're on your own." I nodded and just then lightning flashed. Rain started _pouring_ down the hills of the meadows. Chiron seemed disturbed by this. "No time to waste. Tell Clarisse and get packing, Percy. Annabeth, go inform Grover please." We each nodded to him and went our separate ways.

I had no idea what activity the Ares cabin was doing so I went to the Ares cabin first to just check. There was a couple people sitting, lounging around on the cabin porch. It seemed to be their free hour. I walked up to the door of the cabin and knocked, ignoring the wary stares of everyone that I passed. Some guy opened the door with his head to the side, looking like he was talking to someone, with a smile on his face.

He turned while asking, "Wha-" He stopped as he saw me standing there, the smile instantly going off his face.

"Could you tell me where Clarisse is?" I asked.

His head turned a bit but his eyes were still on me. He yelled, "Clarisse, get over here! Someone wants to talk to you!"

A couple seconds later, a grumbling Clarisse was at the door. She looked surprised to see me but asked, "What'cha need?"

"I'm going on a quest. I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come with, but y'know if you're busy..." I trailed off, with a big teasing smile on my face

She immediately brightened up, putting a big smile on her face. "Of course!" She yelled, spooking some of her other siblings.

"Alright then, get packed up. We leave in the afternoon." I replied.

* * *

I walked back to my cabin with a smile on my face after that. I started packing but remembered the mental not I made yesterday. I went to the camp store and used some of the drachmas they loaned me for the quest to buy about 3 outfits worth of black clothes, which would work for now. I put some pants and a short sleeve shirt on, I stuffed another pair of the same clothes in my bag and left the other in my cabin.

We all met up at Thalia's pine around 12 P.M. where Chiron and Argus were waiting for us with a white SUV behind them. Argus looked spiff and clean today. He was wearing a chauffeur's uniform so you could only see extra eyes on his hands face and neck, which I was kinda thankful for. Argus always creeped me out a little.

"This is Argus," Chiron told me. "He will drive you into the city, and, er, well, keep and eye on things." I raised and eyebrow at Chrion, trying to figure out if he was making a joke or not.

I hear footsteps coming up behind us in a quick pace. I turned an saw Luke come up behind us with a pair of sneakers in his hand.

I had honestly forgot about Luke and his death shoes.

"Hey." He panted. "Glad I caught you." He seemed to be trying to not look at me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annabeth with a huge blush on her cheeks that almost reached her ears. I saw her chest rising and falling more quickly before and I smirked, a plan forming in my mind.

Luke grudgingly looked at me, though he looked constipated while doing it. "Just wanted to say good luck." He told me. "And I thought, um...maybe you could use these." He handed me the shoes and shouted "Maia!" Tiny little white bird wings expanded from the side and flapped up once, then closed again.

Grover was staring in awe at the sneakers. "Awesome!" He yelled.

"They served me well. I don't use them much these days." Luke said, a dark look passing his face. I was reminded of the look Kronos always had and I almost shivered from the thought.

"Thanks, man." I said.

Luke just nodded and walked away but I called after him. He turned around with an irritated look on his face. "Didn't you forget to give Annabeth a goodbye _fatherly_ kiss on the cheek?" I asked grinning like the devil.

A look of understanding crossed his face when I finished the sentence. A smile graced his face when his eyes locked onto Annabeth, who sent me a glare but looked gleeful.

"How could I forget?" Luke asked gleefully. He went right up to her and hugged her close. You could now hear hear breathing from yards away, and could see the blush run down her neck, totally covering her face red.

He pecked her on the cheek and she passed out right then and there.

Luke looked confused and started to shake her a bit, asking, "Annie? Annie?" Clarisse and I laughed at his denseness while Grover was off to the side looking awkward.

After Luke handed Annabeth to Grover, he stalked off back to wherever. While Grover struggled to carry Annabeth to the SUV, Clarisse and I stood there looking at Chiron.

"Take this, it will help you on the quest." He handed us two canisters full of Nectar and two Ziploc bags full of Ambrosia.

We stuffed those in our bags and I asked Chiron, "I won't be able to use these, will I?" Gesturing to the shoes.

He shook his head, "Luke meant well, but if Zeus caught you in his domain he would most likely blast you."

I pretended to think about things for a while before I looked at Grover who had just recently returned. "Hey, Grover, want a magic item?" I asked.

"Me?" He asked.

"Yea, go nuts." I said, handing them to him. I noticed Clarisse's hurt expression and whispered to her, "I feel something off about the shoes, I don't want you to get hurt." The second part wasn't meant to come out. She seemed surprised but let a small smile grace her face.

Chiron got my attention and handed me a pen. I immediately recognized it and tried to hid my excitement. "Percy, that's a gift from your father. I've kept it for years, not knowing you were who I was waiting for. But the prophecy is clear to me now. You are the one."

I uncapped the pen and the bronze beauty came to life. I swiped and slashed the sword a couple times at the underbush to get the familiar weight accustomed to me again. "The sword has a long and tragic history that we need not go into," Chiron told me. "It's name is Anaklusmos."

"Riptide." I translated. "Thank you, Chiron." I said

He nodded and said, "Now recap the pen." I did as he said. "You cannot lose the pen. It is enchanted to always come back to you if you happen to lose it. Try it." I tossed the pen and continued to converse with Chiron about sword safety and using it only in emergencies.

Soon enough, I checked my pocked and Riptide was there. We said goodbye to Chrion and went down the hill to meet Argus, an excited Grover, and a sleeping Annabeth.

I tossed Annabeth in the back seat with Grover so me and Clarisse could sit in front of them, relaxing.

That was how I started my quest a second time.

* * *

 **AN: This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous two but I did add some change into the story for now.**

 **Here are the poll results so far. I have my personal vote on Calypso!** **(If you didn't vote by poll, I also take your reviews for votes.)**

 **Hestia: 9**

 **Calypso: 7**

 **Zoe: 3**

 **Bianca: 2**

 **Reyna: 1**

 **Rachel: 1**

 **Clarisse: 1**

 **Thalia: 1**

 **No one/Alone: 0**

 **I am going to end the poll by next chapter so BE SURE TO VOTE!** **Go to my profile page and at the top is the poll and it's selections. Although I do accept review votes, please don't sent in a review with 2 choices.**

 **~CrackLoader**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Here are the poll results:**

 **Calypso: 13**

 **Hestia: 12**

 **Zoe: 3**

 **Clarisse: 3**

 **Bianca: 2**

 **No one/Alone: 2**

 **Reyna: 1**

 **Rachel: 1**

 **Thalia: 1**

 **CALYPSO WON! By just a pinch. Since this is the case though, I will make Percy have different loves throughout the story because Calypso is introduced so late from the books but EVENTUALLY Percy will end up with Calypso.**

 **Also for all the Hestia/Percy people, I will make some sort of fanfiction later on. Could be a one-shot or a complete story who knows.**

 **Percy's POV**

A little while after the car had driven off, Annabeth had woken up. She didn't say anything, just sat there with her eyebrows scrunched up, like she was thinking about something.

Sitting there in the car gave me some time to take everything in. Every little sound around me I would hear. Listening to the rhythmic white noise inside the car and the occasional bump we would hit, sending a small jolt through the car, made my eyes droopy. I soon fell asleep, hearing the breathing of Clarisse beside me. The dream following was not pleasant.

Once again, I was falling. The crevices and cracks of Tartarus were flying past me, putting memories that were long forgotten into my mind, making me afraid of what was about to happen next.

When I landed, pain shot through my feet. Unlike last time, the decent was not good. Glassy, black shards of Tartarus' skin were digging deep into my bare feet, and I had to clench my teeth to hold in my scream. I hadn't noticed my clothes before, but now as I looked down all I saw were rags. A greyish piece of cloth used as a shirt looked like someone had tossed it in lava and then tried to dry it off by raking it across razor sharp rocks. I had no sleeves, or any coverage for my sides. The 'shirt' I was wearing looked like someone just draped a piece of cloth that had a head hole over me.

My pants looked like a potato sack. The light brown color was the most colorful thing down here. They were torn just as bad as the shirt was, all of it was bloody.

I finally looked up to where I was and found 2 cells, 1 on the right of me, and and 1 on the left. In the cell to my right, I saw Hermes on his knees with his arms chained up to the wall, looking down at the floor. From what I could see his face was riddled with blood, I couldn't make out any feature other from the shadows and shades telling me where his mouth, nose, and eyes were. Or where they used to be. Once he looked up I gasped. Hermes didn't _have_ eyes. They were black pits of endless darkness. I didn't know how he even opened his eyelids but once he heard me gasp he narrowed them.

"Percy?" He asked softly.

I nodded my head slowly until I remembered he couldn't see. "H-H-Hermes? What h-happened to you?" I asked in a small whisper, grasping the cell bars, trying to get as close to him as possible.

He must have heard me because he shut his eyelids tightly. "What happened?" He asked in a whisper. "WHAT HAPPENED?! YOU HAPPENED! YOU DESERTED ME IN THIS SHITHOLE! YOU ABANDONED US!" He shouted. I immediately scrambled back, holding my hands to my ears, trying to block out Hermes' screaming. I ran into what felt like more cell bars and immediately snapped around to see Hades there looking fearfully up at something.

I hesitantly followed his gaze. What I saw was hundreds upon thousands of monsters clawing at bars in a cell connecting to Hades'. The bars on the cell were slowly drawing back and I realized what was going to happen. I tried to turn away but it felt like a desert full of compact sand was dropped onto me, keeping me in place. The gates opened and I was finally able to move. The screams of pure agony was probably the worst thing I've every heard. I curled into a ball and tried to block out the foreign sound of Hades screaming in pain with my hands to my ears. My eyes were wide and I could feel fresh tears on my face plopping to the ground.

I then woke up in that same position on the car floor in front of the seat I fell asleep on. Clarisse was over me with a raised hand, like she was going to smack me, looking panicked. I looked up and saw the concerned and also panicked faces of Grover and Annabeth.

"A-Are you okay? Y-you wouldn't stop shaking. It looked like you were having a s-seizure. I had to smack 5 times just to get you up." Clarisse stuttered.

"Yea. I-I think so. Thanks Clarisse." I replied. I sat up and got back on the seat of the car, still feeling the concerned eyes of Grover and Annabeth on the back of my head. I looked out of the window and it seemed we had reached Manhattan. The sun was on the horizon and it was drizzling a bit.

Argus dropped us off at a Greyhound station that wasn't too far from my apartment. I saw a missing poster of me but didn't bother with it. I looked down the street toward where my mother would usually be but quickly pulled away to stop Grover from asking any questions.

While we were waiting for the bus on a bench, I thought about why I was really on this quest. While I sat there watching Clarisse, Annabeth, and Grover play hacky sack with an apple, I was thinking of my mother. I loved her as much now as I did back then. This whole quest was for her. My original intent back in the past was to get her back from the dead. I almost snorted at the idea now, there was no way I could convince Hades to let go of my mom. He didn't know me like he did in the future.

The bus finally came when Grover accidentally ate the hacky sack, making Annabeth and Clarisse laugh at his foolishness. I even smiled a little. We stepped on and went to the back of the bus. Grover was sniffing like crazy, he had definitely smelled monsters.

We sat, waiting patiently. Finally the last passengers got on and Clarisse clamped onto my shoulder. Let me tell you, it _hurt._ "Percy." Clarisse warned. I looked up to see 3 raggedy old women sitting near the front of the bus. Their black eyes watching the group of us intently. I tapped Annabeth's and Grover's shoulders and discreetly pointed to their direction. Once they looked up, their faces instantly paled.

Annabeth's fingers were twitching towards her cap while Grover's hands instinctively went up to the reed pipes. Clarisse had her electric spear on her back and a sword in the sheath on her hip. She was clutching the hilt of the sword tightly, ready to pull it out. I tried to sit there and act calm, but there was a cold feeling on my neck every second or two. I had confidence that I could take on the three furies with ease, but those flaming whips weren't on fire for nothing. I was relieved to have people with me.

Once we entered a tunnel, I heard a familiar voice say, "I need to use the restroom." and then the other 2 furies also say, "So do I." which was pretty weird and creepy. Gave me chills.

They had all started coming down the isle now but we were all battle ready by the time they got up. Annabeth was nowhere to be seen now, though he looked petrified, Grover was playing his reed pipes slowly, as to not attract any attention, Clarisse had the sword unsheathed and she was now standing in the isle, I was twirling Riptide between my fingers, ready to uncap at any second.

The Furies were coming down the isle sniffing. Mrs. Dodds turned around suddenly and looked at some air near the front of the bus which I guessed was Annabeth. She apparently didn't see anything because she just kept going down towards my seat. Once they were right in front of me, they stiffened and I knew it was my time. I uncapped Riptide, already jumping out of my seat and slashing at the nearest Fury. She disappeared as soon as my blade hit her neck.

In an instant, Clarisse, Grover, and I were huddled up in a 3 person circle with the other 2 Furies, Tisiphone and Alecto, circling us.

"Where is it? Where?" They hissed, their whips crackling with orange flame, only coming inches from our faces when they snapped them.

The other people on the bus were now screaming and cowering. They definitely saw something dangerous.

"I don't know what your talking about." I said slowly. Clarisse had a careful eye on the Furies while Grover was trying to keep his legs from wobbling.

The Furies raised their whips. "Don't play dumb with me, honey!" Alecto said. Grover drew out a tin can and prepared to throw it when suddenly the bus jerked left. Everybody, including the Furies, was jerked right while I had to be careful about not accidentally stabbing me or teammates. The bus jerked right and we were all thrown left. You could hear the driver up front fumbling for the wheel. The bus suddenly wailed and started spinning in the asphalt we were in.

We came to a full stop and I immediately went into action. While Alecto was dazed, I went in for the kill. She got up extremely fast and cracked her whip at my face which I narrowly dodged. When she pulled back, I took my chance and went in close. She seemed to be dazed by my mobility and tried to catch her whip around my sword hand but I was already too close.

Right as I was about to stab her through her stomach, agonizing pain exploded in my shoulder. I could feel something slender wrapped around my right shoulder down to my armpit pretty tightly. If felt like razor sharp rocks were dragged across my bare skin. I could feel muscled and tendons loosen up like jelly from the extreme heat. I pushed through the pain with a grimace and stuck Riptide through Alecto's stomach.

The whip around my shoulder seemed to go slack, meaning that Clarisse and Grover must have taken care of Tisiphone. The whip was still there though.

I hurriedly fumbled for the handle, already groaning in pain. With a couple screams and curses I had managed to get the thing off, but now there was a horrible smell in the air, and it wasn't burning flesh. It smelled like a smoky campfire that had disgusting chemicals poured all over it.

I recognized it as the same smell when Gabe's car exploded. I quickly scooped up everybody's bags and yelled, "Everybody OUT!" The mortal passengers scrambled to the front of the bus while I broke the window, leading Grover and Clarisse out first. I wasn't sure where Annabeth was but I would just have to trust she made it out.

The air next to me shimmered, revealing Annabeth who was looking pretty scared. We all plunged deep into the woods, me trailing behind a bit, my arm still blistering. Luckily it was raining so the pain wasn't so bad. We eventually came across a river where we agreed to just have a break. I immediately jumped in, sighing in relief, the pain was almost gone.

"Toss me my bag, please?" I asked Clarrise, as I surfaced the water. She hurdled the bag at me and I got it open, looking for some nectar. I found the canister and set it down on the ground. I ripped off my sleeve of my right arm and pulled back some more cloth so that my shoulder was seen. I held the cloth with my teeth and took the canister off the ground. I unscrewed the cap and carefully poured some on my injured shoulder. I watched in sick fascination as the blisters, charred flesh, and black carbon on my skin disappeared.

Once I was done, I put the canister back in the bag and sat against a tree with a sigh. We eventually agreed to keep moving, seeing as we didn't have long to get the master bolt. I was leading up in front, Clarisse trailing on my feet, Annabeth and Grover hanging back a bit. Everything was silent for a while, the only thing changing was the various disgusting smells as we loomed through the muddy forest.

Eventually Annabeth fell in tow with me at the front and said, "That must've hurt really bad." She said, examining my exposed shoulder. I just stared off into the forest. "Why do you hate me so much?" She asked suddenly.

I slowed down a little at the question, but didn't stop walking. "Well...aren't our parents supposed to be rivals? I'm just trying to keep up the family reputation. And you're pretty fun to tease." I said, snickering a little.

I could pretty much feel the hardened glare on the side of my head. She eventually sighed and was about to say something but was interrupted by what could be mistook for the 'toot toot' of a dying owl.

"Hey!" Grover exclaimed. "My reed piped still work! If only I could remember a 'find path' song, we would be out of these woods." He started to play a few notes and I fought the urge to cover my ears to stop from getting a headache. I could've sworn Grover's music wasn't _this_ bad.

Just as he was about to get going on the reed pipes, the trees started thinning out into a two-lane highway that looked completely deserted. The only sign of life was the neon signs above a roadside food bar looking building. The rain seemed to suddenly stop, creating the smell of dew throughout the air. You could see small rainbows shimmering throughout the thin mist. It seemed like the perfect day and the perfect place.

I could smell the greasy burgers, a taste left on my tongue that was so insanely salivating. My mind and taste buds wanted more of it, but I already knew what was inside the building so I had to use lots of strength to not fall under the spell. The others, however, were not so lucky. Their eyes looked dreamy and they were slightly hunched over, signaling that they were completely relaxed, which was not good. I could see the saliva coming out of the corners of their mouths as they were slowly walking across the road, not even looking for cars, as if they were in a trance.

I ran after them after a little and started calling, "WAIT!" and "HEY! SLOW DOWN A LITTLE!" This didn't even make them stop and think about what they were doing. I eventually caught up with Clarisse and tried to pull her back by her shoulders, to which she just shrugged me off. I even tried pulling each by their waist but none of them would budge. Not even Grover.

The trance they were put in now was 100 times worse than what is was last time. As we got closer and closer the the food bar, I kept having to fight harder and harder on my brains intentions and it trying to control my limbs. It was becoming so bad that it was now the only thing I could think about.

I needed to end this. And fast.

Forgetting the other quest members, I sped past them to get to the door and greet 'Aunty Em'. I hurriedly sped up the steps to the door and knocked three times. I was moving so much, it looked like I had to take a piss.

Finally, after 30 seconds or so, someone answered the door. Medusa addressed me in a calm manner. "Why hello child, how are you? What would you be doing out here all alone? Where are your parents?"

The veil was still on her face so I had a huge advantage. I immediately jabbed her in the stomach with my left fist as hard as I could while getting out Riptide as fast as I could. She backed up as fast as she could when she saw the beautiful bronze blade sailing her way. Medusa was now fumbling to get her headdress off with me sprinting towards her. Through her veil I could see her panicked face. Weird, I wonder why?

Deciding she couldn't get the veil off in time, she readied herself and I could see her red fingernails grow and elongate into talons. She swiped a diagonal slash toward my shoulder. I leaned back and extended my left arm to grab her still human hand. She instantly froze when we made contact. The craziest and weirdest plan popped into my mind, like someone was feeding me information.

I felt the presence of water in a bird bath outside and I started to draw some from it, only very very little amounts. A calm and warming smile made it's way onto my face as I dropped my sword. I closed my eyes on instinct and reached for her right hand with mine, as I had my eyes closed I could feel myself aging, which was weird. I could feel all my limbs growing and stretching, but no pain was there. I could feel my muscles growing, everything becoming lean and healthy. I could feel my connection with water becoming stronger. It was like I was 16 again.

I opened my eyes to see Medusa looking up at me. The change in height was huge. From what was me as 3-4 inches smaller than her was now reversed, I was now many inches taller than her. I had no idea who was doing this, but it made the plan work out perfectly. I held the thin film of water next to my eyes and hardened it with ease into the most clear ice you have ever seen. It seemed perfect size to fit over my iris. I opened my eyes wide and set the ice above where I thought my iris and pupil were. I blinked a couple times and made sure the ice 'contacts' were in properly.

Medusa, the whole time, was looking at me weirdly while still holding hands. "Would you like to look into someone's eyes once more?" I asked in a sultry tone, looking through the veil. Though my voice now was deep and masculine, like how I got used to after the years I had it. She just nodded numbly, still looking up at me.

I gave her a little nod and let go of her hands. I reached up towards the headdress and started slowly and carefully unwrapping it. I could feel her hands pushed up onto my chest as I did this.

I finally unwrapped the veil around her head and I lowered it to the ground. The snakes that acted as hair were calm and still going down her back, though Medusa was looking at the ground. I brought one hand around her waist, pulling her flush with me, while the other cupped her chin and lifted her face so she could see me. I could see why people described Medusa as once a beautiful woman. She still was if it wasn't for the hair. She had a shapely face and plump lips.

Her eyes were closed tight as she tried to pull away from my grip. "No." She murmured. "Yo-You will die." I don't think in all my days, I would've guessed Medusa would be reluctant to kill someone.

"Trust me." I said in the same sultry tone as earlier. I could see her eyes flicker open hesitantly. They were softly glowing with power the same color as her eyes. They were beautiful. An amazing emerald color shone through her lashes as she looked up at me hesitantly. I now had both hands on her hips, now fully trusting the plan. Her head snapped up as soon as she didn't see me turning to stone. I let a small smile flicker onto my face as she looked onward into my eyes.

Her hands creeped up from my chest to around my neck as her eyes turned tearful. She let a few small tears drop from her eyes as one of my hands came up form her waist.

My thumb brushed off the tears she had shed as I said quietly, "Such beautiful eyes do not need to be tainted with tears." I licked my lips and leaned closer, closing my eyes, Medusa doing the same. Our lips met in passion as more salty tears came in contact with both of our lips. Her lips were soft and experienced but not experienced at the same time. She obviously remembers doing this before but just had to warm up a bit.

We kept going for minutes, slow and passionate kissing, no tongue, just lips. I hesitantly pulled apart and looked into her cheerful eyes. "I am sorry, but I must leave. I am on a timed quest." I said to her as she now looked downcast. "I will come back sometime later, I promise you that. I will figure something out for you. Could you release my friends from the trance please?" I asked her.

"I-I can." She nodded, disappointed that I would be leaving. "Thank you, but I need to make sure you are coming back. Make an oath. Please." She pleaded with me, almost in tears again.

I smiled a small smile as she said this. "I, Perseus Jackson, Swear by the River Styx, that I will come back for Medusa some time in the future." I said, as the sound of thunder cracked though the air, sealing the oath. She smiled widely at me before giving me another quick peck. "Now go and hide before my friends see you. Stay safe, Medusa." I gave her another long kiss before she then scurried off into an office looking place.

My friends had come in not even 10 seconds later while I was contemplating what had just happened. Once they were all in, Annabeth asked, "What happened here? And to us?"

I responded with, "Something was pulling you towards this place in a trance, lets get out of here. Nothing important happened here." My old squeaky and weak voice was back, meaning I was twelve again.

I saw Medusa peeking through a window in the office and I sent her a quick wink.

Life sure if strange the second time around.

* * *

 **AN #2: I decided to put a little twist in the story, already starting off with relationships. I wasn't planning on this though, it kinda popped into my mind as I was thinking for 30 minutes on how to make the story interesting.**

 **ALSO, I'm sorry for the lack of chapters. I've had some serious writers block so anything I wrote was complete garbage. I also did slack off a bit so that didn't help. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Peace out,**

 **~CrackLoader**


	11. Author's Note

**Alright, I'm sorry.**

 **Right now, I haven't been posting any chapters, but not because I'm abandoning the story. I am not happy with my writing skills right now so I am trying to work on it. I am right now in a club dedicated to learning and perfecting writing in my high-school right now. Stuff like simple details, using the 5 senses from a character from a 1st person POV, etc. Stuff like that I feel I need to practice on.**

 **Once again, I am not disbanding the story, just taking time off to hone some skills that very much need to be perfected. I take stuff like this seriously, so sorry if any of you have been waiting for a chapter even though most of you aren't. I should be able to get a chapter out in the next 2 weeks or so if everything goes right with the club and stuff. Again, I'm sorry to those few who wanted a new chapter.**

 **Sincerely,**

 **~CrackLoader**


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